H.
B.
4632
(By Delegate Yeager)
[Introduced February 28, 1994; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section fifteen-d, article two, chapter forty-eight of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to child support beyond the age of eighteen; educational expenses.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section fifteen-d, article two, chapter forty-eight of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2. DIVORCE, ANNULMENT AND SEPARATE MAINTENANCE.
§
48-2-15d. Child support beyond age eighteen; educational
expenses.
(a) An order for child support entered pursuant to sections thirteen and fifteen of this article may provide that payments of such support continue beyond the date when the child reaches the age of eighteen, marries or is sooner emancipated, so long as the child is making substantial progress towards a degree and is enrolled as a full-time student in a secondary school or vocational school:
Provided,
That such payments may not extend past the date that the child reaches the age of twenty.
(b) The court may make an award for educational and related expenses for an adult child up to the age of twenty-three who has been accepted or is enrolled and making satisfactory progress in an educational program at a certified or accredited college. The amount of these payments shall be related to the ability of the parent to make the payments. The payments shall be made to the custodial parent when the adult child is residing with that parent or to a third party as designated by the court. If the child is not residing with a parent, the payments shall be paid to the child or to such third parties as so designated by the court.
(c) The provisions of subsections (a) and (b) hereinabove shall not be applicable in any case where a final order of divorce was entered prior to the effective date of this section, nor shall these provisions be considered as grounds to reopen and modify any prior final order of divorce. This section is intended to have prospective application to orders entered subsequent to its effective date on the tenth day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-three.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to not extend child support beyond the age of eighteen for educational expenses for any case where the final order of divorce was entered prior to July 10, 1993.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.