[Catherine Adank]

My Husband I have been Married to for a little over a year,He has a Son from a previous marriage with Autism. The court have entitled his ex to receive child support for this child until his 20th birthday.. She is now taking him back to court to try to get this extended... He gets S.S.I. checks every month, plus Child Support. We have nothing, because most of his money goes to his ex.. While she own's her own home and works and gets food stamps and free medical. How long will my Husband have to continue paying support for this grown child? I have a brother with down-syndrome that goes to a special Job program everyday... He is severely Handicapped. He's is his 30's and is maybe a 5 year old... I feel bad for his son, which he hasn't gotten to see since he was really small... But this is not right... I don't feel like he's getting proper help or education, and my husband's ex has full custody of him. So I feel like there is nothing we can do... I feel like she is taking advantage of her own son's disability, to better her own life... We have submitted paper's to the court to try and stop the modification from going through, but it seem's to alway's end up in her favor... We need help here... Any suggestion's?

[ScottGem]

I'm not sure what help you want or can be given. Your husband fathered this child anf needs to take responsibility for the child. If the court feels that he needs to support his son for the rest of his life or the son's, there is nothing you can do about.

A good lawyer may be able to find a loophole, but I wouldn't count heavily on it.

[cdad]

How old is the child and how severe is the autism ? Also he may be able to argue a reduction in support if the child is receiving SSI and child support at the same time. Was the child receiving SSI at the time the original order occurred ?

[AK lawyer]

Whether the father can be made to continue CS after the current cut-off of age 20 will depend on the specific state law involved. I don't think the court can extend CS unless there is a specific statute providing that it can.

[cdad]

Whether the father can be made to continue CS after the current cut-off of age 20 will depend on the specific state law involved. I don't think the court can extend CS unless there is a specific statute providing that it can.

All states allow for the support of children regardless of age when there is severe disability involved and the extra expenses that goes along with it. The extent of the support can vary widely. But in every state that I am aware of it can be continued.

[AK lawyer]

All states allow for the support of children regaurdless of age when there is severe disability involved ...

I suspect that this statement is untrue, but until we find out from OP which state is involved, it would be pointless to try to argue the point.