When Does Child Support End in Texas?
Most Texas parents assume support stops on the child's 18th birthday. That is the single most common — and most expensive — misunderstanding in this area of the law.
The general rule: 18 or graduation, whichever is later
Texas Family Code § 154.001(a)(1) lets a court order support "until the child is 18 years of age or until graduation from high school, whichever occurs later."
Because most children turn 18 during their senior year, the practical answer for the majority of Texas families is graduation, not the birthday. Support commonly runs several extra months.
For that post-18 support to continue, § 154.002 requires the child to be:
- enrolled in an accredited secondary school in a program leading to a high school diploma (or in joint high-school/junior-college courses, or full time in a private secondary school); and
- meeting the minimum attendance requirements.
The order may provide that payments continue through the end of the month in which the child graduates (§ 154.002(c)).
The other ways the duty ends
Under § 154.006(a), unless the order says otherwise, child support terminates on:
| Trigger | Statute |
|---|---|
| The child marries | § 154.006(a)(1) |
| The child's disabilities of minority are removed (emancipation) | § 154.006(a)(2) |
| The child dies | § 154.006(a)(3) |
| A court finds the child is 18+ and has failed the enrollment or attendance requirements | § 154.006(a)(4) |
| An order terminates the parent-child relationship after genetic testing excludes the obligor | § 154.006(a)(5) |
| The child enlists and begins active service in the armed forces | § 154.006(a)(6) |
Support also ends if the paying parent and receiving parent marry or remarry each other (§ 154.006(b)).
The exception: a disabled child
Section 154.001(a)(4) allows support "for an indefinite period" for a disabled child. Under § 154.302, a court may order indefinite support if it finds that:
- the child requires substantial care and personal supervision because of a mental or physical disability and will not be capable of self-support; and
- the disability exists, or its cause is known to exist, on or before the child's 18th birthday.
That second requirement matters enormously. A disability that first arises at 19 does not open this door.
The trap: support does not stop by itself
This is where parents lose money.
An income withholding order sent to an employer does not expire on its own. If nobody files anything, payroll keeps deducting and the state keeps disbursing — sometimes for years past graduation.
The paying parent generally has to ask the court to terminate withholding and get an order that says the duty has ended. Until that happens, the withholding is lawful and the money is gone.
Two related points worth knowing:
- Overpayments are hard to claw back. Recovering money already paid and disbursed to the other parent is a separate fight, and not always a winnable one.
- Arrears survive the child's adulthood. If a balance is owed, the duty to pay that does not end when the child turns 18. Only the ongoing obligation stops.
If there is more than one child on the order
An order for multiple children usually does not simply drop by a child's share when the oldest ages out. Many Texas orders are written as a single monthly amount with a step-down schedule; others require a modification to reduce.
If your order does not contain an explicit step-down, the amount stays the same until a court changes it. Read the order — then run the new number for the remaining children and see whether a modification is worth filing.
Frequently asked questions
My child turned 18 last month but is still in high school. Can I stop paying? No. Under § 154.001(a)(1) support runs until 18 or graduation, whichever is later, as long as the enrollment and attendance requirements in § 154.002 are met.
My child dropped out at 18. What now? Section 154.006(a)(4) allows termination on a court finding that the child is 18 or older and has failed the enrollment or attendance requirements. Note the words "a finding by a court" — you need an order, not a decision.
Does child support continue through college in Texas? Not by statute. Texas guideline support ends at high school graduation. Parents can agree to fund college in a written agreement the court approves, and that agreement can be enforceable as a contract — but no Texas court will order it over your objection.