There are several issues I have questions about:

1. If a child over the age of 18 changes his surname to his mother's maiden name, does the father still have to pay college expenses or child support (in NJ)?

2. If the father has NO say in the college choice, is he still obligated to pay college expenses - without any consideration to his income by the mother?

3. Should the child support, if not terminated by sent directly to the child instead of the mother if the child is A) over 18 and B) living on campus?

Any experience, advice, or suggestions would be highly appreciated

1. Name change by a adult child has no bearing on the support agreement and child support agreement ordered by the court.
So if the court has ordered the father to pay for the college he has to pay.

2. He has to do exactly what the court order says, no more, no less.

3. The child support will have to be paid to the mother, if not, she can say she is not receiving it and ask for it to be repaid.

You can make a motion in court to have the terms and conditions of the child support changed.

A court orders child support. The ONLY thing that changes that court order is a court ordered modification or when the order expires (which is usually 18 or when college is completed).

A legal name change, choice of college etc. do not change it.

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Originally Posted by mazzo1

There are several issues I have questions about:

1. If a child over the age of 18 changes his surname to his mother's maiden name, does the father still have to pay college expenses or child support (in NJ)?

2. If the father has NO say in the college choice, is he still obligated to pay college expenses - without any consideration to his income by the mother?

3. Should the child support, if not terminated by sent directly to the child instead of the mother if the child is A) over 18 and B) living on campus?

Any experience, advice, or suggestions would be highly appreciated

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1. Yes
2. If the court orders it, then yes.
3. In my opinion, yes, but I'm not sure how it actually works.
NJ is probably about the worst state to live in if you are a non-custodial parent paying child support ordered by a NJ court. NJ has just about the most stringent child support laws in the nation, with NY probably running a close second. Remember, they don't call it the "Greedy State" for nothing.

It all depends on your divorce decree. In my parents divorce decree my brother and I were not allowed to change our last names until over the age of 24 (when our support ended). However, it stated in my parents decree that my brother and I could choose whatever school we wanted and my father was to pay for tuition.

As to your third question, the money is for child support, it is to assist the custodial parent. My mother used that money while we were in college to pay for books, housing, meal plans, clothes, etc.