KidSide Newsletter March 2023
Children With Disabilities and Extended Child Support
Written by Judge Mindy S. Glazer | Mglazer@jud11.flcourts and Judge Maria Espinosa Dennis (Ret.) | maria.dennis@sd-adr.com
It is a stressful time for most couples who are going through the breakup of a family unit. It is not easy to divide assets and/or debts, determine timesharing for children and calculate child support. Although child support generally stops when the child reaches age 18, or graduates high school, whichever is later, it may be possible to extend child support payments into adulthood when a child has a developmental or physical disability.
Florida law allows the family court to extend child support for a dependent person beyond 18 years of age when (1) such dependency is because of a mental or physical incapacity which began prior to the child reaching the age of majority, or (2) if the child becomes dependent between ages 18 and 19 and is still in high school, performing in good faith with a reasonable expectation of graduation before age 19. The legal basis to extend child support for an adult child with disabilities is governed by Section 743.07(2), Florida Statutes, “This section shall not prohibit any court of competent jurisdiction from requiring support for a dependent person beyond the age of 18 years when such dependency is because of a mental or physical incapacity which began prior to such person reaching majority…” A petition to extend child support for a child with a disability can be made either during the initial divorce or paternity proceedings or post judgment, by filing a petition for modification of child support.
Parent Education Stabilization Course (PESC) for Parents of Children with Special Needs
Written By Raquel Soto Catalano | raquel@pescfamilies.org
Love is instinctual. Skills are not. Education for parents does not question a parent’s love for his or her child. Rather, parent education is there as a helper in turning that love into building a child’s character and future.
Giving your child the opportunity to succeed and grow because you too were willing to never stop growing as a person and as a parent is what parenting education is. It’s being given the opportunity to ask questions and get answers to the stuff that you don’t know because you have never been there before. None of us know all the answers, but we can get better with the right education.
Judicial Reception Photo Album
Thank you to all of the judges, general magistrates, event attendees, and KidSide partners for making the 2023 Judicial Reception the fantastic event it was!
We are grateful to Jsrking Photography for providing complimentary photography services for this event.
Parent Testimonial
The testimonial below is from an anonymous parent who received therapy sessions paid for by KidSide:
Your Donations At Work
Welcome To Our New KidSide Partners
We are proud to welcome so many new partners to the KidSide family. Thank you to new Silver Partner, Your Insurance Attorney. We are also proud to introduce Mom’s Moving On and Commissioner Jeniffer Viscara as our newest Bronze Partners.
Thank You KidSide Partner
Looking to make a splash in the community to start the new year? Join KidSide as a partner and get recognized in the KidSide newsletter and on social media, plus other fantastic benefits. Thank you to all of our existing partners for their continued support of KidSide.
Support the work of Family Court Services by donating to KidSide!
