Child support and adult children attending college?
If parents divorce while their adult children are attending college, I feel that the parent who the adult children are nor primarily residing with should be obligated to pay for 50% of the college fees, and I don't understand why it's legal that the parent who walks away from his or her adult children doesn't have any responsibilities to them just because he or she doesn't care about them anymore because they are angry about the divorce. I have 6 or 7 friends who have gone through this, and i think it's disgusting. I think that child support or financial assistance to pay for college should be the responsibility of both parents if their child is taking the initiative to further their education. What do you all think?
Additional Details
Basically what's happened is that the parents together promised to pay for their children's college so long as they pass and everything. Then, the parents decided to get a divorce, and now one parent will not contribute to pay for tuition and the other parent cannot afford it themselves, and so their kids will have to quit college because one parent is angry about the divorce and refuses to help their kids.
The parent who won't help is the one who was the primary breadwinner in the household, he has been withholding money for several weeks now, has left the family in financial ruins, has left the household, hasn't filed for divorce yet but plans to after the other parent is financially exhausted so that they cannot fight in court due to not having money, and the other parent who wants to help only works part time for minimum wage. The parent that has left is a drunk and a drug addict but makes the money, and they live in a no fault divorce state where they cannot force one parent to help pay for college unless they agree in court and sign a statement, which the neglectful parent will probably not do.
I think my state (Colorado) would actually include this in the Order/Decree. There is a section of the court papers when you file that asks about the post-secondary education costs and I'm sure if it's not you can add it in and hope your judge/magistrate will approve it.
Some parents pay for their kid's college..some parents don't. That goes for whether they are married or divorced.
If I was in that situation..if I could afford...yes I'd pay for 1/2 or even the full amount. If I was the kid and knew that one of my parents wasn't supporting me (even though they could afford it) I think I would have some resentment toward the one that wasn't helping. If I were the parent who was willing to pay..but the other wasn't..I'd make sure that my kid got to college even if the other parent was being stubborn..because I think college is THAT important.
So essentially your questions is... is it right for a parent not to support their child financially when going to college? I would say..if the parent can afford it..he/she should at least be helping.
This is something that should have been handled in the divorce settlement. If you can still change it, then petition to do so right away. Just like health insurance, this can be court ordered as part of the divorce. An attorney can "coerce" the un-wanting party to sign such an agreement that is needed. The attorney can also make the "breadwinner" party pay for all of the other parties fees. Whoever is getting the short end of the stick in this situation should at least pay for a consulation with a lawyer to find out exactly what he or she should do.
As far as college goes, there are plenty of grants, loans, and scholarships out there to get the child to finish while all of this is preceding. If the child were to complete college before the divorce proceedings are finalized, the attorney can have the court order that the other party pay 50% of the students debt. Have the child set up an appointment with the financial aid department to find out his or her options outside of what they already may be receiving.
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