In the summer of 2013, Nathan Olson (along with Virginia Beach attorney Sheera Herrell) co-authored two articles on Virginia’s Child Support statute as it related to emancipated children with special needs. (http://www.cgglawyers.com/firm-articles) The articles pointed out that Virginia’s child support statute did not allow a court to make an initial child support determination if a petition was filed after the child turned 18 years old (or 19 if the 18 year old child was still in high school) even if that child was permanently disabled, and even if that disability occurred prior to emancipation. The articles noted that many other states had recently revised their child support statutes to allow for initial child support determinations in these circumstances. The articles also suggested potential language that the Virginia legislature should consider if the Virginia statute was to be changed.
Unbeknownst to the authors, a woman named Sharon Cummings had been pushing for such a change to Virginia’s child support statute for several years. She was unable to request child support for her autistic son, Conner, because he was 21 years old when her divorce proceedings began. http://www.tidewaterwomen.com/featured/march-2013/conners-law. She began efforts to convince Virginia delegates to introduce a bill to change the current child support statute.
In 2014, Senator Barbara A. Favola (along with several other Virginia Senators and Delegates) introduced HB 2383/SB 923/SB 957 collectively nicknamed (Conner’s Law). This bill sought to change Virginia’s child support statute to permit a parent of a disabled child to seek an initial child support determination even if that child is over the age of 18 (19), so long as the disability occurred prior to the child turning that age. The language was very similar to the draft language suggested in Nathan and Sheera’s article in Family Law News < http://www.vsb.org/docs/sections/family/fallnews2013.pdf>; After making its way through the Virginia House and Senate, Conner’s Law formally became the law in Virginia on July 1, 2015. The law and the legislative history can be found here. (http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?ses=151&typ=bil&val=hb2383)
We applaud Nathan and Sheera’s efforts in bringing attention to this matter and for contributing to the dialogue that resulted in a change to a Virginia law. We pride ourselves in our work with local and state bar associations as well as our work in the community, and are thrilled to share this exciting news.