The FRO Solution Blog

We receive so many calls from support payors complaining that their kids are over 18, out of school and not living at home. The payor tells FRO " but FRO just doesn't care ! " FRO keeps enforcing. The FRO is not a Court. It doesn't have the authority to make a judicial decision. All the FRO can do is write a letter to the support recipient asking whether he or she agrees that the support obligation has ended or terminated. Until the recipient confirms in writing to FRO that the obligation is over, the FRO is legally obligated to continue to enforce the existing Court Order. Even if the recipient does agree that the obligation has ended for the over 18 " child ", FRO may still be required to continue to enforce the full amount of the existing court order if there are other dependant children included in the support order and the order doesn't break the payments down into a " per child basis. " Most child support guideline orders specify a global amount of support, for ex. $900/m for three children rather than $300/m/child. Only the latter type of order can be adjusted by FRO on the consent of the recipient without the necessity of obtaining a new court order. Although recent amendments to the Family Responsibility and Arrears Enforcement Act attempt to address some of these problem areas these amendments are of limited application. In these cut off date situations support payors should write the FRO and the support recipient seeking acknowledgement of the termination of the support obligation for the particular child as of a specified date and an immediate adjustment and return of overpayment, if any. But don't wait for an answer before obtaining legal advice. Chances are very good that you will need to obtain a court order in any event and all of the time you spend trying to obtain a solution through the FRO is a waste of your valuable time. My office offers a flat retainer arrangement for payors and recipients on most child support termination motions. Please refer to the Retainer Agreement at www. thefrosolution.com or e mail my office for more details.