M and F are the divorced parents of three children, including a daughter (C) born in 1992. In March 2010, C, who resided with F in Tennessee, moved out of F's residence and began living with her boyfriend. M, who lived in New York, commenced a proceeding seeking to terminate her child support obligation. M filed a second petition to modify the support order seeking, among other things, child support from F on the basis that she had assumed financial responsibility for C. F filed a cross-petition asserting that c's emancipation relieved him of the obligation to support her. Following a hearing, a Support Magistrate found that C had left the father's home of her own free will in order to avoid parental control and, therefore, was constructively emancipated and not entitled to support. Upon M's written objections, Family Court concluded that C was not emancipated inasmuch as she was being financially supported by M since her departure from the father's home. F appealed.

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