Pumroy v. Sisco (Mississippi 2020)

A child’s emancipation is grounds for modification of a child support order. The mother and father, who had three children, divorced. The father was ordered to pay support for the three children. The father was ordered to pay support for their three children. This order was subsequently modified, and the child support provision stated that the child support would continue until such time as the children were emancipated. Several years later, the Department of Human Services filed a petition to modify support citing the oldest child’s emancipation as the substantial change. The mother opposed the petition. She argued her understanding was that the order would not be modified until all three children emancipated. The Chancery Court granted the modification, and the mother appealed. The appellate court affirmed the modification. It found the Supreme Court has clearly stated a parent has no further obligation to support a child once the child is emancipated. To read anything more into a child support provision would not be appropriate.