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New Florida Fifth District Court of Appeals Case Regarding Child Support for a Child with a Physical Disability after The Child Turns Eighteen Years of Age in the Orlando, Florida Area 

In the Florida Fifth District Court of Appeals case of Skelly v Skelly, 45 Florida Law Weekly D1650 (5th DCA July 10, 2020), the Court held that former wife had standing to bring a supplemental petition for modification of child support for the parties’ physically-disabled adult child who was legally competent and not adjudicated dependent prior to her eighteenth birthday. The former wife was the proper party to enforce the support judgment, and the parties’ physically disabled adult child who was legally competent, need not have been adjudicated dependent prior to her eighteenth birthday for former wife to have standing. 

In the Skelly case, the daughter turned eighteen years of age in March. The former wife filed a supplemental petition for modification in February, five weeks prior to the child turning eighteen. In this case, the former husband argued that the former wife lacked standing and, his daughter needed to have been adjudicated dependent prior to the child’s eighteenth birthday. However, the Fifth District Court of Appeals pointed out that it recently reiterated that section 743.07(2), Florida Statutes, does not require that a child be adjudicated dependent before he or she reaches majority for trial court to order extended support. See Phagan o/b/o LPD v McDuffie, 45 Florida Law Weekly D 1161(Fla. 5th DCA May 15, 2020). In Phagan, the mother’s supplemental petition to modify and extend the father’s child support obligation of the parties’ child alleging the child’s incapacity and dependency began prior to the child reaching majority was filed only four days before the child turned eighteen years of age. The Fifth District Court of Appeals reversed the trial court’s dismissal of the petition and remanded for further proceedings. Based on the precedent in Phagan, the Fifth District Court of Appeals upheld the trial court’s ruling in Skelly. 

If you have more questions regarding a Marital and Family Law matter, you may call Ann Marie Giordano Gilden at Ann Marie Giordano Gilden, P.A. at 407-732-7620 and set an initial consultation. You may also visit my website at: https//:www.AnnMarieGildenLaw.com; and check me out on these other sites: Ann Marie Giordano Gilden on FaceBook; Ann Marie (Giordano) Gilden on Linked In; and Ann Marie Giordano Gilden on AVVO and Lawyers.com. 

This article is for informational purposes only; and it does not form an attorney client privilege.