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Welcome to 2010! With all our new year’s resolutions, there are a couple of things that you may want to move to the top of your list – especially if you have a child graduating from high school this spring.

If you expect to have a child in college, trade school, or other post-secondary education this year, you may need to take action now to preserve your right to receive financial help from the other parent. Most child support orders terminate upon the child reaching age 18 or graduating from high school, which ever occurs last. If you child is graduating from high school this spring, you likely will need to take immediate action to ensure that the other parent helps with the child’s expenses next September.

While it is true that you might have until early June to take action, there might not be enough time to get the issue resolved and still allow your child to start school this fall. Even if you and the other parent have a verbal agreement, you should understand that this agreement might not be enforceable once the child reaches 18 and has graduated from high school. A little foresight can go a long ways to ensuring that your son or daughter can obtain the education they want.