19 yr. old, college, and CS

[momiss]

Don't have CS in the agreement, because at the time we didn't know her plans. She will be moving out and going to college. X is paying CS for her now... what happens when she goes to school? Should he continue to pay CS? Thanks very much

[winterwolf7]

It would make sense for the CS to be paid directly to the adult child. She will probably need some of it for her living expenses away at school, and presumably her custodial parent will want a share to maintain the home while she is away.

In any case, you will need the ex's consent to change things.

It would be best to come to a new agreement that covers the current situation between all parties.

[NBDad]

And if the ex doesn't agree, the current case law would be that he pays full CS while the child attends post secondary, AND a proportional share of the educational costs.

[momiss]

thanks very much for your help. I love that law otherwise I would really struggle paying for her college... he can afford it and I can't. Now I can whoohooo.

[torontonian]

Don't whohoo too fast, it's also accepted that CS is reduced by 1/2 for the months at home, while school related costs are shared proportionately.

[blinkandimgone]

Don't whohoo too fast, it's also accepted that CS is reduced by 1/2 for the months at home, while school related costs are shared proportionately.

Can you explain what you mean?

[torontonian]

While a kid is not residing at the MH during undergrad, CS gets reduced by 1/2 while there are extra expenses to be paid: tuition, residence, etc... During the months the child is back at the MH (summer for e.g.) CS resumes at 100%...
So: the CS payments would be based on 8 months at 50% + 4 months at 100%.
Of course if the kid is gone for good, CS stops or is paid to the kid directly as part of the sharing the educational expenses. Let me know if this is still not clear...

[Mess]

torontonian, that is not spelled out in legislation and we have not seen case law that supports that. If you have something that backs that up, a lot of people would benefit if you provided links.

[torontonian]

Having thrown away whole boxes of paperwork after we settled, I don't have these easily at hand - but about 5 previous cases were used in my negotiations.
A fast search on Canlii got the following (not the best cases I had but just FYI):

CanLII - 2009 CanLII 14051 (ON SC)
[46] Payment of the full guideline amount while a child is away from home and attending university may not be appropriate. While the custodial parent incurs some cost in maintaining the residence, including other expenses would result in duplication having regard to the separate determination of extraordinary expenses.

[47] Section 3(2) (b), Federal Child Support Guidelines, provides discretion to the court in determining support for a child over the age of majority. In my view, a reduced monthly amount is appropriate.

and CanLII - 2003 CanLII 18693 (ON SC)

[56] The monthly child support payments are reduced to $200 per month from September 1, 2003 until May 1, 2004 when, in accordance with the Federal Child Support Guidelines, the monthly support of $509 shall commence.

and CanLII - 2004 CanLII 7764 (ON SC)

[34] Based on this analysis, the children would be required to contribute to their own university costs of one third. Beyond this they would be entitled to regular Guideline support, and pro-rata contributions by both parents to the balance of the university costs, together with full Guideline support by the non-custodial parent during the periods when either one or both are living at home with the custodial parent.