H. B. 4015
(By Delegate Gillespie)
[Introduced January 15, 1998; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend section fifteen-d, article two, chapter
forty-eight of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to divorce and
annulment; and child support beyond age eighteen.
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.
(a) Upon a specific finding of good cause shown and upon
findings of fact and conclusions of law in support thereof, an
order for child support may provide that payments of such support
continue beyond the date when the child reaches the age of eighteen, so long as the child is unmarried and residing with a
parent and is enrolled as a full-time student in a secondary
educational or vocational program and making substantial progress
towards a diploma: Provided, That such payments may not extend
past the date that the child reaches the age of twenty.
(b) (a) Nothing herein shall in this article may be
construed to abrogate or modify existing case law regarding the
eligibility of handicapped or disabled children to receive child
support beyond the age of eighteen.
(c) (b) The reenactment of this section during the regular
session of the Legislature in the year one thousand nine hundred
ninety-four shall may not, by operation of law, have any effect
upon or vacate any order or portion thereof entered under the
prior enactment of this section which awarded educational and
related expenses for an adult child accepted or enrolled and
making satisfactory progress in an educational program at a
certified or accredited college. Any such order or portion
thereof shall continue in full force and effect until the court,
upon motion of a party, modifies or vacates the order upon a
finding that:
(1) The facts and circumstances which supported the entry of
the original order have changed, in which case the order may be
modified;
(2) The facts and circumstances which supported the entry of
the original order no longer exist because the child has not been
accepted or is not enrolled in and making satisfactory progress
in an educational program at a certified or accredited college,
or the parent ordered to pay such the educational and related
expenses is no longer able to make such payments, in which case
the order shall be vacated;
(3) The child, at the time the order was entered, was under
the age of sixteen years, in which case the order shall be
vacated;
(4) The amount ordered to be paid was determined by an
application of child support guidelines in accordance with the
provisions of section eight, article two, chapter forty-eight-a
of this code or legislative rules promulgated thereunder, in
which case the order may be modified or vacated; or
(5) The order was entered after the fourteenth day of March,
one thousand nine hundred ninety-four, in which case the order
shall be vacated.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to prevent awards of child
support for healthy normal children after they reach the age of
18 years.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.