Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Child Support

Once a child is emancipated (turns 18) in Florida, can a parent seek child support for that child? Once the child is emancipated, generally the child can seek support on his or her own under certain circumstances. A parent is limited to seeking retroactive support if no initial child support determination was previously made. This was an issue in the case Morrell v. Alsentzer, 4D2024-1148 (Fla. 4th DCA July 16, 2025).

Originally, the father was granted primary custody of the child, but no child support order was entered at the time. Years later, shortly before the child turned 18, the mother petitioned for support for the child retroactively and prospectively, alleging the child now lived with her. Before the court ruled on the petition, the child turned 18, and the father moved to dismissed based on this, arguing that the mother could not seek retroactive support since this was not an initial child support determination (relying on his original petition which requested child support that the final judgment did not address), and the mother lacked standing since the child was an adult. The trial court agreed with the father and dismissed, and an appeal ensued.

The appellate court reversed, holding “[S]ection 61.30(17) provides standing for the mother to seek child support for up to twenty-four months prior to the filing of the petition as the minor child had not turned eighteen. Additionally, the mother can seek child support for the minor child after filing the petition up to when the child turned eighteen.” The court concluded “Because no prior child support determination had been made, and because the father’s petition did not seek child support, the mother’s petition was the “initial determination” request. We understand section 61.30(17)’s reference to “the petition” as the petition actually seeking child support from which the initial determination would be made. Thus, the mother’s petition should be considered the petition from which the twenty-four-month period is measured. Therefore, the mother had standing to bring the claim for retroactive child support from emancipation, including the twenty-four months before the petition was filed.”

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