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  • University studies

    My daughter will be attedning university this coming September, I have been paying child support for the last 11 years. She is now 17. My ex wife recenlty got laid off, so she will not be able to contribute to her education. If i agree to pay for her schooling roughlty 12,000-15,000 per year do i still have to pay child support, She will be staying with her mom most of the time. This will be a big issue for me since there is noway in heaven i could afford to pay both.

  • #2
    1. University education is paid for by both parents AND the child.

    Is your daughter working? Does she have savings? Has she applied for scholarships, bursaries and student loans? What about a line of credit?

    If your ex wife is laid off, that is a temporary situation. This doesn't excuse her from her share of the expense. She could and should be imputed to her previous income for the purposes of this expense. Even if she is laid off for a whole year, she could still contribute next year.

    So no, you should not be on the hook for the full cost of the university education. There are two other parties who must do their part. If your ex cannot contribute her share today, she should borrow it and pay it back later when she has employment.

    If none of the other parties can contribute to university, then maybe this is the wrong time for your daughter to start. Maybe she needs to get a job for a year or two, help her mom out financially, and try again next year when finances are more stable in their household.

    2. The answer to your other question is that yes, if she is a full time student and is living primarily with her mom, child support should continue. You could discuss the idea of transferring the child support directly to your daughter and letting her control the money and pay rent to her Mom.

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    • #3
      Originally posted by OB1 View Post
      My daughter will be attedning university this coming September, I have been paying child support for the last 11 years. She is now 17. My ex wife recenlty got laid off, so she will not be able to contribute to her education. If i agree to pay for her schooling roughlty 12,000-15,000 per year do i still have to pay child support, She will be staying with her mom most of the time. This will be a big issue for me since there is noway in heaven i could afford to pay both.
      If the child is attending university and living with her mother more than 60% of the time, your CS obligation will not end. You will also be expected to contribute to her educational expenses as a section 7 extraordinary expense, which means you and your ex pay in proportion to your incomes. Sometimes, the child is expected to pay 1/3 (via part time jobs, scholarships, loans, etc), and the remaining 2/3 is what is shared proportionally by the parents.

      Both of you should have been anticipating this extra expense and saving up for it.

      The fact that your ex conveniently loses her job around this time apparently makes her expect that her proportion should drop to zero. How is she supporting herself and her child now? Use that severance, or her EI or whatever, as her income for the proportion calculation, at the very least, or impute her former income to her if she now expects a new spouse to support her till she finds a job. You are not an endless source of income, and should not be expected to make up your ex's shortfall for an expense you both prepared for based on your previous incomes.

      You might have to tell the daughter, sorry, but due to her mom losing her job, you won't be able to go to university just yet. That's life. If a main breadwinner in an intact family lost their job, you can bet their child's university attendance might have to be put on hold.

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      • #4
        Also, check if there is a co-op option available in your daughter's program. It turns a 4 year program into 5, but the she would be able to make a significant contribution to their costs.

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        • #5
          If your daughter is living with her mother more than 60 % of the time, then any loans and grants will be assessed under her income, not your combined income. There are a number of grants available from the federal and provincial government. Do the math. There are calculators out there to give you an idea of what the costs will be.

          Comment

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