Brown, J.
Robin Lechien (“Mother”) appeals the trial court’s order determining that Nathan Lechien has repudiated his relationship with Michael Wren (“Father”) and reducing Father’s weekly child support obligation to $69.00. Wife raises two issues, which we revise and restate as:
I. Whether the evidence supports the trial court’s determination that Nathan has repudiated his relationship with Father; and
II. Whether the court erred in modifying Father’s weekly child support obligation.
We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand.
….
Mother argues that the court abused its discretion when it deviated from the Indiana Child Support Guidelines (the “Support Guidelines”) without just cause. Specifically, Mother argues that the court “only gave credit 19 weeks per year that Nathan lives at home” and “based child support on that number.” Appellant’s Brief at 15. Mother argues that “Nathan has always lived with [her], and planned to continue [] living there as he attended IUPUI.” Id. Mother also argues that there was “no evidence that Nathan is supporting himself or is capable of doing so” and “[t]here is nothing in the Indiana Child Support Guidelines that would warrant a deviation from child support.” Id. at 16.
Father argues that the trial court properly modified his child support obligation. Father points to Support Guideline 8, which addresses extraordinary expenses, and Ind. Code § 31-16-6-2, which addresses educational support orders, and argues that he “agrees that an educational expense order and child support order are separate and distinct” but that he “disagrees that the distinction remains as clear in a case where a child is attending college but chooses to live at home.” Appellee’s Brief at 8-9. Father argues that the Support Guidelines do not address “whether there should be any consideration given to modifying a non-custodial parent’s child support obligation when that parent is relieved from contributing to a child’s post-secondary education expenses and the child lives at home while attending college.” Id. at 9. Father argues that “in a case where repudiation is found and the non[-]custodial parent is relieved from contributing to the child’s post-secondary education expense, [he] contends that the distinction of who is providing the child’s room and board is material,” that “[i]f the child lives away from home while attending college, the non[-]custodial parent is fully relieved from contributing to the child’s post-secondary education expenses,” and that “[h]owever, if the child lives with the custodial parent, the finding of repudiation is circumvented to the extent that the non[-]custodial parent’s child support obligation includes, in essence, the child’s room and board.” Id. at 9-10.
We note that this court has stated, as argued by Mother, that while Indiana law recognizes that a child’s repudiation of a parent under certain circumstances will obviate a parent’s obligation to pay certain expenses, including college expenses, any such repudiation is not a “release of a parent’s financial responsibility to the payment of child support . . . .” Bales v. Bales, 801 N.E.2d 196, 199 (Ind. Ct. App. 2004), reh’g denied, trans. denied. “Payment of child support is not the legal equivalent of contributing to a child’s college expenses.” Id. “While there is statutory authority for a dissolution court to order either or both parents to pay sums toward their child’s college education, there is no absolute duty on the part of parents to provide a college education for their children.” Id. “In contrast, parents have a common law duty to support their children. This duty exists apart from any court order or statute. A parent’s obligation to pay child support generally continues until the child reaches twenty-one years of age.” Id. (citations omitted). Moreover, we held that repudiation is not an acceptable justification to abate support payments for a child less than twenty-one years of age. See id. at 199-200.
Next, we note that the parties submitted child support worksheets at the June 8, 2010 hearing. The worksheet submitted by Mother indicated that Father’s weekly gross income was $1,883 and that her weekly gross income was $1,111, and the worksheet calculated Father’s basic support obligation to be $191.19 per week. Mother’s worksheet did not show any adjustment due to the fact that Nathan would be attending college while living at home with her.
The worksheet submitted by Father indicated that his weekly gross income was $1,593 and that Mother’s weekly gross income was $1,189.43. In addition, Father attached a post-secondary education worksheet (“PSEW”) indicating that Nathan lived at home for nineteen weeks per year and thus that Father’s weekly support obligation should be 36.5385% of the amount of the support obligation if Nathan resided with Mother for all fifty-two weeks per year. [Footnote omitted.] Father’s worksheet calculated his child support obligation to be $62.34 per week. At the hearing, counsel for Father stated Father’s position that “anything above” the amount Father would pay if Nathan were residing away from home on campus during the school year “really is contribution to his college expenses[,] that being room and board.” Transcript at 100. Father indicated that he looked at the IUPUI calendar “in determining about how many weeks that [Nathan] would be home if he was . . . a traditional on campus student,” which Father stated in his submitted worksheets was nineteen weeks. Id. at 101. When asked on cross-examination why he wanted to pay a fraction of the normal child support, Father testified: “Well if he was going to college – if he was going to live on campus there would be campus time – all that campus time as far as I’m concerned, if he was at home and in college that becomes college time as far – is what we’re looking at here so I don’t believe I should have to pay any college expenses.” Id. at 104.
In its June 25, 2010 order, the court found that Father’s weekly gross income was $1,883, that Mother’s weekly gross income was $1,111, which were the income amounts proposed by Mother, and that Father’s weekly health insurance cost for Nathan was $3.00. The child support worksheet attached to the order, which does not include a PSEW, indicates that Father received a credit based upon the fact that Nathan planned to live at home for nineteen, instead of fifty-two, weeks per year. The court ordered that Father pay child support in the amount of $69.00 per week. [Footnote omitted.]
Support Guideline 3(G), which sets forth adjustments to a parent’s child support obligation, provides in part: “If the parents have a child who is living away from home while attending school, his or her child support obligation will reflect the adjustment found on Line J of the [PSEW] (See Support Guideline 8).” Ind. Child Supp. 3(G)(1) (emphasis added). Support Guideline 8(b) provides in part:
A determination of what constitutes educational expenses will be necessary and will generally include tuition, books, lab fees, supplies, student activity fees and the like. Room and board will also be included when the student resides on campus or otherwise is not with the custodial parent.
The impact of an award of post-secondary educational expenses is substantial upon the custodial and non-custodial parent and a reduction of the Basic Child Support Obligation attributable to the child in question will be required when the child resides on campus or otherwise is not with the custodial parent.”
(Emphases added).
Support Guideline 8(c) provides in part:
When the student remains at home with the custodial parent while attending an institution of higher learning, generally no reduction to the noncustodial parent’s support obligation will occur and Section Two of the Worksheet need not be completed.
We observe that both Support Guidelines 3(G) and 8 expressly state that a parent’s basic child support obligation will be reduced if or when the child is living away from home. Conversely, if or when the child is not living away from home or resides with the custodial parent, then the support obligation would generally not be reduced. This result is not inconsistent with Ind. Code § 31-16-6-2, which is applicable when the court orders support for post-secondary educational expenses and provides for a reduction of child support to the extent it is duplicated by the educational support order. [Footnote omitted.] Here, because the court did not order support for post-secondary educational expenses, no part of Father’s child support obligation is or could be duplicated.
Evidence was presented at the June 8, 2010 hearing that Nathan was going to live at home with Mother while he attended college. Based upon the record and the Support Guidelines, we conclude under the circumstances that the trial court erred in adjusting Father’s support obligation and in noting in its worksheet that Nathan would be residing with Mother for nineteen of fifty-two weeks per year. This result is consistent with the general duty of a parent to provide support for a child until the child is twenty-one years old, and as previously stated repudiation is not a release of a parent’s financial responsibility for the payment of child support and is not an acceptable justification to abate support payments for a child less than twenty-one years of age. See Bales, 801 N.E.2d at 199-200. While it may be true that a support obligation may be reduced if a child were to reside on campus or away from home to attend school, the Support Guidelines do not provide for such a reduction if the child continues to reside with the custodial parent, and we decline to hold under the circumstances here that Father’s support obligation is reduced for the time Nathan could, but does not, live away from Mother’s home in order to attend college. We reverse the trial court’s modification of Father’s weekly child support obligation to $69.00 and remand with instructions to enter a child support order consistent with this opinion. The order should include the provision that Father’s obligation to pay support will automatically cease when Nathan attains the age of twenty-one, regardless of whether Nathan in still attending college at that point. [Footnote omitted.]
For the foregoing reasons, we affirm the trial court’s determination that Nathan repudiated his relationship with Father, reverse the court’s modification of Father’s child support obligation from $177.00 to $69.00, and remand with instructions to enter a child support order consistent with this opinion.
Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded.
FRIEDLANDER, J., and BAILEY, J., concur.