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By LegalMatters Staff • While child support payments generally end at 18, some circumstances may obligate parents to provide support beyond the child’s age of majority.
“The Alberta Child Support Guidelines list four reasons why child support may have to be paid past the age of 18,” says Edmonton family lawyer Mark Demas. “They are illness, disability, being a full‑time student or another cause.”
He says the most common exception is that a son or daughter is completing their first post-secondary degree or diploma.
“In this situation, support can continue up to the age of 22 if that child is a full-time student,” says Demas.
Another common reason for extending support is if the child has physical or mental impairments that limit their ability to care for themselves, he says.
Demas explains that children have a legal right to financial support from their parents and a separation or divorce does not change that obligation.
“The leading case that clarifies when support should be paid to an adult child in post-secondary studies is a 1993 B.C. judgment, Farden v. Farden,” he says. “It sets out the legal test to determine if a parent must pay such post-secondary legal costs in accordance with the Guidelines.
Demas says “Farden factors” are often cited in Alberta court judgments and include whether the career plans of the child are reasonable and the ability of the child to contribute to their own support through part-time employment.
