Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I think one of the arguments into forcing divorced parents to pay for college is that the income and wealth of the parent counts against possible financial aid they can receive.
This is probably the only way I'd be in favor of courts ordering college payments.
If a parent should be forced to pay anything for their child's college, divorced or married or single parent because if we're going to force some to pay then we'll have to force everyone to pay, what they should be required to amount should not be able to exceed the Expected Family Contribution according to FASFA.
A parent should not have to pay for a $40,000/yr private school.
I'm not one to go crying about special snowflakes, but this is ridiculous. No one is entitled to a college education paid for by their parents and no court should be able to force a parent to pay for college.
Offer to pay the amount of tuition that her nearby community college would charge.
I agree with this! There's no reason why the OP's daughter needs to attend an out of state private college. If she wants to attend an expensive school, then she should foot the bill.
I'm married to my four children's father, and our college package to our kids was/is room and board. There's no reason why a high school graduate can't attend community college the first two years.
OP, your first step should be to contact your daughter and have her send you a copy of her financial aid package, which will list all charges (tuition, housing, food, etc.) and all grants, scholarships, etc. that she’s received. And find out what loans she’s receiving. She most likely will have a subsidized or non-subsidized loan for approx 5K (which is the maximum limit she will be able to take out in her own name). Has her mother signed for a parent plus loan or had someone else do so? Find out. Ask her to screen shot the information….don’t have her write the info down and pass it on to you. Also check to see if she has been given work study funding by her college (where she will work x number of hours on campus in exchange for pay. Usually it's a maximum of $2500/semester that she can receive through workstudy.
Then you will be able to see the real cost for her attendance. It is possible that with a bit of help from you she will be able to afford this college (or maybe not). But don’t see a lawyer until you have all the pertinent information with you.
Wow. I agree. She is an adult now and should pay for her own schooling. However, someone posted that Indiana was different. Please, keep us posted on how this turns out. I wish you the best.
It happens OP. I have a friend in NJ who was ordered by the court to pay his son's private (in-state)college expenses. And, he paid, until he went back to the judge because his son was 23 and still credits shy of graduation. At that point, the judge ruled in his favor and told the son to grow up. Dad and son are now completely estranged, so it ended badly.
OP, your first step should be to contact your daughter and have her send you a copy of her financial aid package, which will list all charges (tuition, housing, food, etc.) and all grants, scholarships, etc. that she’s received.
And find out what loans she’s receiving. She most likely will have a subsidized or non-subsidized loan for approx 5K (which is the maximum limit she will be able to take out in her own name). Has her mother signed for a parent plus loan or had someone else do so? Find out. Ask her to screen shot the information….don’t have her write the info down and pass it on to you. Also check to see if she has been given work study funding by her college (where she will work x number of hours on campus in exchange for pay. Usually it's a maximum of $2500/semester that she can receive through workstudy.
Then you will be able to see the real cost for her attendance. It is possible that with a bit of help from you she will be able to afford this college (or maybe not). But don’t see a lawyer until you have all the pertinent information with you.
I agree that he needs the actual facts not just the daughter or mother saying "The college needs $7,000 by next week and $28,000 by the end of the semester."
He can ask his daughter to give permission to him to have access to her college records.
If she says "No" or refuses to give him the actual figures it would be a red flag.
Most custody agreements cover this. How is it you didn't have this detail listed?
Education, health, guardianship are top priority when creating this agreement.
I am 100% against costs that are forced on a parent by a court.
If two married folks can't afford college for their kids...where is the logic that an already single parent gets the luxury of court order for the technically adult child? This mother had 14 years of tax credit to stash money. Heck not even a dime goes to the kid anyways...it's support for the mom...(smh).
And I say this as a single mom. She best pony up her side of this education fund. Dollar for dollar.
Most people I know payed child support way after 18.
Maybe when they are behind
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
There's no reason why the OP's daughter needs to attend an out of state private college. If she wants to attend an expensive school, then she should foot the bill.
