California Family Code § 3901: Duty to Support Adult Child Who Is a Full-Time High School Student

Plain-Language Summary

Under California Family Code § 3901, a parent’s legal obligation to pay child support normally ends when the child turns 18 years old, but there is an important exception: if the 18-year-old child is still an unmarried, full-time high school student and not financially self-supporting, the parent must continue to pay support. This duty continues until the child graduates from 12th grade or turns 19 years old, whichever happens first. In practical terms, this means a parent has to keep paying child support past the child’s 18th birthday if the child hasn’t finished high school yet, but never beyond the child’s 19th birthday. After the child has graduated high school or reached age 19 (or if the child marries or becomes self-supporting before then), the law considers the child an adult for support purposes and the mandated child support will end.

Family Code § 3901 ensures that a high-school student who turns 18 is not left without support during their final year of school. The law also explicitly states that it does not prevent parents from agreeing to support their child for a longer period than the law requires. Parents can, if they wish, sign agreements to continue supporting a child beyond age 18/19 (for example, helping with college expenses), and courts can enforce those agreements because of § 3901(b). However, absent such an agreement or a special circumstance (like a severe disability under a different law), a parent is not legally required by § 3901 to pay child support once the child is an adult who has finished high school or reached age 19.

Real-World Examples

Support continuing until high school graduation: Maria turns 18 in March of her senior year of high school. Because she is still enrolled full-time and is not yet 19, her father’s child support payments will continue past her 18th birthday and only stop when she graduates in June (before she turns 19). Family Code § 3901 extends the support obligation to cover those last few months of high school.
Support ending at age 19 if still in school: Tony started school late and is still in high school after his 19th birthday. Even though Tony has not graduated yet, his mother’s child support obligation ends once he turns 19 (since 19 comes before graduation in this case). Under § 3901, 19 is the absolute cutoff for mandatory support, so the payments stop on Tony’s 19th birthday regardless of his graduation status.
Support ending when not in full-time school: Jake turned 18 and decided to take a GED program part-time instead of attending high school full-time. Because he is no longer a full-time high school student, § 3901’s extension doesn’t apply. His parents’ legal duty to pay child support ended when he turned 18 (since he was an adult and not meeting the full-time high school requirement).

Published Case Law on § 3901

In re Marriage of Hubner (2001) 94 Cal.App.4th 175 – Confirmed that a parent’s support obligation continues for an 18-year-old who remains a full-time high school student. In this case, an 18-year-old went on a study-abroad program but was still enrolled and receiving credit toward high school. The court held that under § 3901 the child was still a “full-time high school student,” so the father had to keep paying support until the child finished high school or turned 19, despite the child’s temporary study abroad.
In re Marriage of Schopfer (2010) 186 Cal.App.4th 524 – A father sought to stop paying support for his daughter after she turned 18 and went to a boarding high school, arguing he shouldn’t have to pay the stepfather who was caring for her. The Court of Appeal disagreed: because the daughter was still an unmarried full-time high school student (and under 19), § 3901 required continued support. The fact that she was away at school and already 18 did not extinguish the obligation; the father had to continue paying support until she graduated high school or reached 19.
In re Marriage of Rosenfeld & Gross (2014) 225 Cal.App.4th 478 – This case illustrates § 3901(b), which allows parents to agree to support a child beyond the normal cutoff. Here, the parents’ divorce agreement required them to share their children’s college expenses (supporting them past high school). The court held that such agreements for adult child support are enforceable, and even found that parents can agree to make those support obligations non-modifiable by the court. In Rosenfeld & Gross, the parents’ college-support agreement did not explicitly prevent modifications, so the mother was allowed to seek a change in terms – but the key point is that parents may voluntarily extend support beyond what § 3901 requires, and courts will honor that agreement.
In re Marriage of D.H. & B.G. (2023) 87 Cal.App.5th 586 – Clarified the definition of “full-time high school student” under § 3901. The case involved an 18-year-old whose father argued he was no longer obligated to pay support because the child was not “full-time” in school. The Court of Appeal explained that “full-time” should be understood by the standard of the local school district (i.e. the normal full school day). They sent the case back to the trial court to apply the proper definition. This ruling reinforced that whether a student is considered full-time (triggering continued support under § 3901) must be evaluated in line with school district requirements – a child must be enrolled in and attending the equivalent of a full school day.

Full Text of California Family Code § 3901

(a)(1) The duty of support imposed by Section 3900 continues as to an unmarried child who has attained 18 years of age, is a full-time high school student (unless excused pursuant to paragraph (2)), and who is not self-supporting, until the time the child completes the 12th grade or attains 19 years of age, whichever occurs first.

(a)(2) A child is excused from the requirement to be a full-time high school student for purposes of paragraph (1) if the child has a medical condition documented by a physician that prevents full-time school attendance.

(b) Nothing in this section limits a parent’s ability to agree to provide additional support, or the court’s power to inquire whether an agreement to provide additional support has been made.

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