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  • Child support and Post Secondary

    My husband has 2 kids. 18 year old lives with mom. 20 year old moved out of town to attend university and lives with maternal grandmother. We are expecting rent receipts soon showing that the mother has "paid" the grandmother rent for daughter living there.

    We are expected to pay our share of post secondary expenses including transportation. When we factor all expenses PLUS child support for the 2 kids ($1700/month) we are looking at close to $2500-3000/month.

    I'm trying to do some research on canlii about this. What I'm seeing in cases is that full guideline amount is implemented for the child living at home and a reduced guideline amount is implemented for the second child for the 8 months that they are residing away from home (in our case she actually doesn't want to come home this summer....actually ever again). Does anyone have any experience with this?

  • #2
    What would the cost of residence be at the university? Typically full CS is still paid until the completion of a post secondary degree as long as the child is enrolled in a full time program. (As the child is considered a child of the marriage and not self sufficient)

    Ideally, you should try and obtain agreement that the CS is directed to the child themselves, so it will help them with their share of expenses.

    Typical formula for post secondary:

    Total costs (ie. Tuition + books + fees + residence + meal plan + local transport (ie. bus pas) ) /3

    Child pays for 1/3 via loans/grants/bursaries/savings/etc
    The other 2/3 is then split proportional to income between the parents.

    If the rent receipts are MORE than the cost of the child being in residence, then simply indicate you are only able to afford the residence cost.

    In any event, you WILL be on the hook for full CS + a proportional share of the post secondary expenses. There was 20 years to prepare for this day.

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    • #3
      Thanks for the reply. We came across this on canlii:

      CanLII - 2012 ONSC 920 (CanLII)

      Read paragraph 57.

      We have a history of the ex taking trying to "kill us financially" )her words) so we have been researching what our options are.

      In September there will be 2 kids in post secondary, we will get dinged for the purchase of the sons car, transportation for both kids (she will try to get our share of insurnace, maintenance and gas for 2 vehicles which for the daughter alone is $460/month based on case conference records), rent for the daughter, and $1,700/month in CS. This will take us to or very close to 50% of my husbands pay. Yes, we should have prepped for this but the daughter moving was a last minute decision. She transferred schools in August because she didn't want to live at home anymore (too much arguing with her mother).

      The daughter who should be paying a 1/3 of her rent told us last night that she doesn't even know how much her mother is paying the grandmother. The mother won't tell her because she knows she will tell us (it's always a game). Therefore daughter obviously isn't paying her share. And is there really an exchange of money between the mother and grandmother? We would much rather pay CS to the daughter.

      At the end of the day we have no issues supporting the kids. We have issues of being taken advantage of because the ex hates me.

      M

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      • #4
        we will get dinged for the purchase of the sons car, transportation for both kids (she will try to get our share of insurnace, maintenance and gas for 2 vehicles
        Purchase of a car is not a necessity. Insurance/maintenance/gas is covered by CS.

        It's called a "bus pass". I wouldn't pay for any of THAT crap as it's not a legit expense for school.

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        • #5
          Not sure that's entirely correct for all as some live in an area where public transportation just isn't available and so a car would indeed be a requirement to get to and from school.

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          • #6
            Originally posted by blinkandimgone View Post
            Not sure that's entirely correct for all as some live in an area where public transportation just isn't available and so a car would indeed be a requirement to get to and from school.
            They can bike or walk. A car isn't a necessity. If the child wants a car, they can work to buy it themselves. Otherwise they can find people to car-pool with, ride with friends etc.

            Unless the parents are fairly wealthy (like upper-middle class), a judge is unlikely to order the parents to buy their kids a car.

            I mean, who is going to be responsible for maintaining it? What kind of car are we talking about? I can go out tomorrow and buy some $500 beater. But it is likely that the engine will blow in 2 months and who will be responsible for that?

            There are remedies that one can take to minimize this issue....first would be to move closer. Then, c/s and s7 expenses are much clearer and everything is easier to work out.

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            • #7
              Except in this instance, the children are NOT living at home, they are living away. IF the kid was living at home, or living rent free with a relative to reduce the costs of school...then yeah, you could make argument to use that reduction in cost to apply to a vehicle of some sort.

              Ultimately, if the university offers a residence option, it would invalidate the need to have transportation. (since you'd be on campus).

              There are VERY VERY few universities/colleges outside of a public transit zone.

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              • #8
                Originally posted by HammerDad View Post
                They can bike or walk. A car isn't a necessity. If the child wants a car, they can work to buy it themselves. Otherwise they can find people to car-pool with, ride with friends etc.

                Unless the parents are fairly wealthy (like upper-middle class), a judge is unlikely to order the parents to buy their kids a car.

                I mean, who is going to be responsible for maintaining it? What kind of car are we talking about? I can go out tomorrow and buy some $500 beater. But it is likely that the engine will blow in 2 months and who will be responsible for that?

                There are remedies that one can take to minimize this issue....first would be to move closer. Then, c/s and s7 expenses are much clearer and everything is easier to work out.
                This isn't a one size fits all solution. In our case, the closest college is a 40 minute drive ( a 5+ hour walk by google maps indications) and there is no public transportation available outside of the city limits. A move closer to the college would mean moving the other kids out of their school district to accomodate plus a huge increase in living expenses to buy within the city limits. Sometimes it just makes more financial sense to buy the car, or take advantage of the purchase opportunities for students available through most dealerships.

                Every situation is different and should be looked at on an individual basis, IMO.

                Comment


                • #9
                  This isn't a one size fits all solution. In our case, the closest college is a 40 minute drive ( a 5+ hour walk by google maps indications) and there is no public transportation available outside of the city limits. A move closer to the college would mean moving the other kids out of their school district to accomodate plus a huge increase in living expenses to buy within the city limits
                  I'm assuming in your situation the child is still living at home, for a drastic reduction in room and board? Does the local college offer a residence option?

                  The other option is that the student rent a room/bachelor apartment or rents with friends IN the city, thereby meeting the public school zone thing.

                  It's not a one size fits all thing, post secondary rarely is. However outright buying the child a car isn't in the financial means of most families.

                  The vehicle, insurance, and maintenance costs are potentially thousands of extra dollars.

                  Comment

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