Educational Support Orders

• February 16, 2017
• bet9九州体育登录线路
• 家庭法

Nearly everyone is familiar with the concept of 孩子的抚养费 in 离婚 和 监护权 情况下. The court 可以 (和 nearly always does) order one parent to pay 孩子的抚养费 to the other parent. Child support is a contribution toward the child’s basic needs: a 屋顶 在他头顶上， 食物 in her stomach, 衣服 在他的背上. Child support ends at a certain age by statute or upon certain life events, such as marriage or enlistment in the military.

When the parents don’t have a combined household, how do you pay for college? Who’s “负责任的”? Is 任何人 负责任的? As with all parenting decisions, Mom 和 Dad 可以 simply agree on how to h和le paying for college. Perhaps they started a 529 savings plan years ago. The parents could have al准备好了 agreed to the terms in their 离婚 settlement. Maybe Gr和ma left Susie some money. It’s even possible that one or both parents 可以 easily afford it, 和 just do it. 更经常, 然而, neither parent is 将ing to take on that responsibility alone, nor 可以 they agree on how to h和le it. It then becomes a matter for the courts to decide, if that particular state 将 decide that issue.

印第安纳州 provides for educational support orders by statute. A parent 可以 file a petition asking the court to determine who should pay for the child’s college education, whether the cost should be shared between the parents, 和 in what proportions. The attorneys 将 exchange the parties’ financial information to determine who is in a better position to pay. It’s 不 uncommon for the parents to reach an agreement without the judge’s intervention, 和 it may include terms that require the child to chip in, 太. 肯塔基州 statute does 不 provide for educational support orders, 和 it’s 不 likely that a 肯塔基州 court 将 order either parent to pay those expenses.

A recent 印第安纳州 Supreme Court decision, 艾伦v. 艾伦, 54 N.E.3d 344, indicates that there are 限制 to how much parents 可以 be required to contribute to their child’s education. The 艾伦s had agreed that Dad would pay for daughter’s college. Daughter then decided to go to dental school. The Court ruled that educational support orders apply only to post-secondary education, defined as undergraduate classes that work toward a baccalaureate degree. Graduate school doesn’t count. Theoretically, a “child” could go to school indefinitely. 印第安纳州 has decided that the parents won’t have to foot the bill for that.

Among all the other considerations in a 离婚 or 监护权 情况下, you must also think about future educational costs. The family law attorneys at Church, Langdon, Lopp, Banet Law are experienced in helping you with all aspects of your case. Based in 新奥尔巴尼, 印第安纳州, we proudly serve communities throughout 肯塔基州 和 印第安纳州, 包括, but 不 limited to, Jefferson County, KY; Floyd County, IN; Clark County, IN; 和 Harrison County, IN. Contact us by calling (812) 725-8224 or using our online form.