Georgia does not require support past the age of majority unless the parent agreed to it, with one exception created in 2024 for a dependent adult child.
No Duty Past Majority Without an Agreement
In Wood v. Wood, 257 Ga. 598 (1987), a jury ordered a father to keep paying while his son attended college, up to age 23. The Georgia Supreme Court struck it: “there is nothing in the law that requires parents to support their children who have reached majority even though they may not be emancipated and may be in school.” The high school exception, up to age 20, has its own post.
What an Agreement Can Add
Parents can agree to more, enforceable once part of the decree, but the language must be clear. Under Anderson v. Anderson, 251 Ga. 508 (1983), “an intention to support the child into its majority will be found only if the agreement contains specific and unambiguous language to that effect.”
In Johnson v. Johnson, 349 Ga. App. 99 (2019), a father who had agreed to pay 70 percent of the caretaker costs for the parties’ adult son with Down syndrome was held to that “obligation to contribute to the support of his son.”
The 2024 Dependent Adult Child Statute
OCGA 19-6-15.1(a) defines a “dependent adult child” as “an unmarried individual who has reached the age of majority and is incapable of self-support as a result of a physical or mental incapacity that began before the individual reached the age of majority.” The petition may be filed “at any time after a dependent adult child reaches 17 years and six months of age.”
The ordinary guidelines do not apply. OCGA 19-6-15(q). Instead the court weighs the factors in OCGA 19-6-15.2, including the child’s own income, the needs created by the incapacity, each parent’s resources, and any government benefits. It applies to causes of action accruing on or after July 1, 2024.
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This post is a quick overview of the law and is not intended as legal advice. Please feel free to contact our office for a consultation if you have questions about this or any other legal aspects regarding your case!