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How will this affect support orders issued prior to July 1, 2012?

"Practitioners and the courts will need to work through implementing this change in the statute," said James A. Reed of Bingham Greenebaum Doll LLP. "But the conventional wisdom is that, after July 1, a parent paying child support as directed by an order issued prior to July 1 for a child who has reached age 19 may simply discontinue making further weekly support payments for that child." Reed added, "However, when there are other children who are the subject of the support order who have not yet turned 19, those parents should continue paying support as ordered and contact counsel to discuss the possibility of a support modification."

How will this affect support orders for educational expenses and other extenuating circumstances?

Notably, orders requiring parents to contribute to a child's college expenses are expressly exempted from this change, so orders for the payment of college expenses may continue past age 19 as has historically been true past age 21. The revision expressly permits a child who is subject to an existing support order to file a petition for educational expenses until he or she turns 21; however, any child who is the subject of a support order issued after June 30, 2012, will be required to file a petition for educational expenses prior to his or her 19th birthday. Child support may still be terminated by court order prior to age 19, when emancipation is proven. And, child support may continue past age 19 when a child's incapacity is established. The full text of the revised statutes can be found here.