How to Complete and File Missouri Form CS-95: Child Support Termination Affidavit

Missouri Form CS-95, the Affidavit for Termination of Child Support, is the sworn filing you use to formally end a child support obligation after the child has become emancipated. You complete the form, sign it in front of a notary, and file it with the circuit court that entered your original support order. If the other parent does not object in writing within 30 days, the obligation terminates without a hearing.¹

One situation does not need the form at all. If the child’s date of birth already appears in the state case registry or in the support order itself, the obligation terminates automatically when the child turns 21. For every other ground (marriage, active-duty military enlistment, becoming self-supporting, aging out at 18 while no longer in school, or losing eligibility under the education rules), the obligation stays on the books until someone files an affidavit to close it.

When CS-95 Is the Right Form

Under RSMo 452.340, a parent’s duty to pay child support ends when the child turns 21, turns 18 and is not enrolled in a secondary school program or qualifying higher education, marries, enters active-duty military service, dies, or becomes self-supporting with the custodial parent having released the child from parental control.¹

CS-95 is the right vehicle when the order covers a single child and one of those qualifying events has occurred. The form carries limits worth knowing before you start. It is a court form, so if your order was entered administratively by the Family Support Division under RSMo 454.470, you file with the division instead, using Form CS-699. And if your order covers more than one child, filing CS-95 alone will not get the support amount recalculated for the remaining children; that requires a modification hearing.

If your basis for termination is that the child no longer meets the post-18 education requirements, know what you are claiming. The statute conditions continued support on the child enrolling in and completing at least 12 credit hours per semester (9 if working at least 15 hours per week) and keeping grades high enough to stay enrolled. A child who fails half or more of their courses in a semester loses eligibility permanently.¹ Your affidavit needs to state the specific facts, not just the conclusion.

Getting the Form and the Information You Need

Form CS-95 is available for download from the Missouri Courts website, and the circuit clerk’s office in the county that entered your original support order can give you a paper copy. Some courts, including Jackson County’s 16th Circuit, publish an instruction booklet alongside the form.²

Before you sit down to fill it out, gather:

The original case number from your dissolution decree or the order that established support.
The names of both parents exactly as they appear in the original order, plus any current legal name if one has changed.
The child’s full legal name and date of birth.
The factual basis for emancipation. This may be a specific date (the 21st birthday, the date of marriage, the date of enlistment) or a description of the circumstances that make the child self-supporting or ineligible for continued support.

Accuracy matters because you are signing under oath. A vague or inaccurate affidavit invites an objection from the other parent and can leave you defending the filing at a hearing.

Notarizing and Filing

Sign the affidavit in front of a notary public. Banks, UPS stores, and courthouse clerk offices commonly offer notary services. Bring a valid photo ID. The clerk will not accept an unsigned or un-notarized affidavit.

File the completed form with the clerk of the circuit court that entered your original support order. Fee structures vary by county, so call the clerk’s office before you go to confirm the cost and accepted payment methods. For single-child support orders, Jackson County’s 16th Circuit charges no filing fee and collects only a service fee to cover delivery of the affidavit to the other parent.²

You do not serve the other parent yourself. Under RSMo 452.340(12), the court or division handles service, which creates the official record that starts the 30-day response clock.¹

The 30-Day Response Window

Once the other parent has been served, two things can happen.

If the other parent files a written acknowledgment confirming the facts, or simply does not respond within 30 days, the support obligation terminates automatically. The statute calls this termination “without further judicial or administrative process.” No hearing is held, and no judge needs to sign off.

If the other parent files a written objection inside the 30-day window, the court treats your affidavit as a request for a hearing. The matter becomes contested, and you do not need to file a separate motion to get it on the docket.¹

Keep paying support throughout the response window and until you receive formal confirmation that the obligation has ended. Stopping early creates arrearages that keep accruing interest, even when the child has clearly aged out or married.

If the Other Parent Objects

When a denial comes in, the court may require you to post a deposit for court costs before setting the hearing. At the hearing, you need to prove the factual basis you stated in the affidavit. If you claimed the child is self-supporting, bring pay stubs, lease agreements, or bank statements. If you claimed the child dropped below the required credit hours or failed half their courses, bring transcripts or enrollment records. The other parent can present evidence that the child still qualifies for support.

Administrative orders handled by the Family Support Division follow a parallel procedure under RSMo 454.475, with a hearing officer issuing findings. Either side can seek judicial review in circuit court within 30 days of the mailed decision.³

Orders Covering More Than One Child

CS-95 is built for single-child orders. If your order covers multiple children and only one has become emancipated, the affidavit alone will not get the support amount recalculated. You need a modification hearing. Jackson County’s instruction booklet states this directly: the filing fee for a modification is $144.50 plus service fees.²

The reason is practical. The existing order sets one total payment for all children. Removing one requires recalculating the amount using both parents’ incomes, the remaining children’s needs, and the current child support guidelines. The court runs the numbers fresh rather than subtracting a share.

Arrearages Do Not Disappear

Terminating the current obligation does not wipe out past-due support. Any arrearages you owe survive the termination, and under RSMo 454.520 unpaid child support in Missouri accrues interest at one percent per month (12 percent annually) on delinquent amounts tied to orders entered on or after September 1, 1982.⁴

This is the main reason to file CS-95 promptly rather than stop paying on your own. Until the termination is formally entered, payments are legally due, wage withholding continues, and interest keeps running on anything that goes unpaid.

After the Obligation Ends

Once the 30-day period passes without objection, or a hearing resolves in your favor, the court or division issues a termination notice to your employer directing them to stop any income withholding. Employers will not stop deductions on their own, even when the child has turned 21, until that formal notice arrives.

Keep a copy of the filed affidavit, any written acknowledgment from the other parent, and the termination order. If a payroll department is slow to process the change, or a future dispute arises about what you owed during a particular period, those documents are your proof that the obligation ended on a specific date.

1
Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Code 452.340 – Child Support, How Allocated
2
16th Circuit Court of Jackson County. Missouri Affidavit for Termination of Child Support
3
Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Code 454.475 – Administrative Hearing, Procedure, Effect on Orders of Social Services
4
Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Code 454.520