Vaidik, J.
….
…Father argues that Public Law 111-2012—which changes the presumptive age for termination of child support from twenty-one to nineteen—operates as an automatic termination of his duty to pay support to twenty-year-old K.S. See Pub. L. No. 111-2012 (eff. July 1, 2012).
Although Public Law 111-2012 will modify the presumptive age for termination of child support, it will not alter a child’s ability to obtain educational support—with one important exception. It will amend the time frame in which certain children may seek educational support. Specifically, it will amend Indiana Code section 31-14-11-18 to read as follows:
(a) The duty to support a child under this article (or IC 31–6–6.1 before its repeal), which does not include support for educational needs, ceases when the child becomes nineteen (19) years of age unless either of the following conditions occurs:
(1) The child is emancipated before the child becomes nineteen (19) years of age. If this occurs, the child support, except for educational needs, terminates at the time of emancipation. However, an order for educational needs may continue in effect until further order of the court.
(2) The child is incapacitated. If this occurs, the child support continues during the incapacity or until further order of the court.
(b) A child who is receiving child support under an order issued before July 1, 2012, may file a petition for educational needs until the child becomes twenty-one (21) years of age.
(c) A child who is receiving child support under an order issued after June 30, 2012, may file a petition for educational needs until the child becomes nineteen (19) years of age.
We need not determine whether Father’s support obligation would terminate automatically on July 1, 2012: the trial court terminated Father’s obligation to K.S., and we affirm that ruling. We do, however, observe that since designating support as “educational” support was often not vital before the enactment of Public Law 111-2012, we anticipate that many support orders for college-age students may not specifically refer to the support as educational, although in reality it is. Trial courts must determine on a case-by-case basis whether support is in fact educational support. Thus, obligors who believe that their support obligation will terminate under the new legislation on July 1 would be wise to seek legal advice instead of unilaterally stopping support payments. To do otherwise risks a finding of contempt and possible criminal sanctions for failing to pay support.3 [FN 3: We further observe that the law currently allows an educational support order to remain in effect beyond a student’s twenty-first birthday, Carson v. Carson, 875 N.E.2d 484, 486 (Ind. Ct. App. 2007), and that Public Law 111-2012 will not affect that principle. However, it is unclear whether Public Law 111-2012 will affect existing obligations beyond the age of nineteen under dissolution agreements and judgments, which may raise concerns under Article 1, Section 24 of the Indiana Constitution. ]
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Here, the legislature did not indicate that the amended statute would apply retroactively. See Pub. L. No. 111–2012 (eff. July 1, 2012). Nor is the change to the statute remedial; rather, it appears that the legislature simply intended to terminate parents’ support obligations at an earlier age than permitted by the previous version of the statute. For these reasons, we decline to apply the amended statute retroactively.
Affirmed.
CRONE, J., and BRADFORD, J., concur.