RESP - was joint, now sole

[rockscan]

RESP - was joint, now sole

along these lines to add to my list of unresolved issues


during the marriage both kids had small sized resps but they are young
there has been no contributions for the last 3 years

the best person to honestly manage it would be me (well really my mom)

what are some of the ways this can be dealt with?
I mean i would like both parties to contribute but this area has not even been broached at all in 3 years

Best way to manage is to leave them be. Open your own and get your own grant monies. In your final agreement you state the value of the pre split RESP and that it is to be held jointly for the kids’ education and will be used before any proportionate split. As in, once the child’s share of the expense is determined, an agreed upon amount will be applied from the joint resp prior to any proportionate split by the parties. That way the money that you both contributed is applied before you have to determine what you owe.

But definitely (!!!!) open your own fund after you split (and this is advice to anyone reading this thread) because the grants go to the first person past the post so to speak. Granted they have to be paid back if not used but they can be withdrawn first before any principle.

And don’t come for me on financial rules. There are several cases on RESPs and the family law approach is the owner of the fund gets the grants to apply to their share of the cost. Whatever financial advice from bankers or investment experts is moot. Family Law approaches this differently and there is case law to support it.

[Kkc]

along these lines to add to my list of unresolved issues


during the marriage both kids had small sized resps but they are young
there has been no contributions for the last 3 years

the best person to honestly manage it would be me (well really my mom)

what are some of the ways this can be dealt with?
I mean i would like both parties to contribute but this area has not even been broached at all in 3 years

[rockscan]

So he signed away his rights to the RESP regardless of how it happened but it happened. If he has proof of his contributions or even what it was worth at separation, it *might* help advance an argument but very low chance.

$40,000 is not a lot of money for a four year degree or one where the kid goes away. Plus his ex could argue he signed it over and its for her share.

Here is what he could do. Request proof of all costs for school when they are incurred. He will also request a statement of the RESP account and any withdrawals. Depending on those withdrawals, she could argue it was her share. And she is allowed to do that as he signed it over.

Depending on how much is withdrawn and used, there could be an argument that nothing is owed. For instance kids costs are $15,000, kid got $5,000 in grants and ex used $10,000 in REsP, therefore nothing is owed. Again, this depends on costs and what she withdraws.

A previous poster went through something similar and went to trial last year. In their case though they had contributed to the REsP after divorce and could prove his deposits. Even then there were costs outside the REsP funds.

[Corona99]

Hi all,

I have about 20 questions as lots of issues currently, but don’t want to write a novel that would be way too much for anyone to read, so going to split them up.

My fiancée/partner has severe ADHD and a learning disability, but he is an adult and did have a lawyer, although he used a “collaborative” lawyer as he thought that would be less acrimonious. Result was a weakly worded separation agreement, not that it matters much as his ex does not feel she has to follow any “rules” anyway and routinely ignores the agreement. Anyhow, reading and administrative tasks are very hard for him. Not an excuse, but an explanation. (Also explains why I’m typing this, not him). He had very little knowledge of any finances when they separated/divorced. She took care of everything. He just handed his paycheque over to her. She’s a CPA, so she’s good at that type of thing. He had to ask her for all the financials when they split as he had no idea.

1) 17 year old son going away to university in fall. They (she) has an RESP for him. Unsure of total. Maybe $40,000 now. It was a joint subscription. She contributed money, so did the grandparents, and he did as well.

When they separated, (2016) he was concerned about continuing a joint RESP as he was concerned she would not put the money into the RESP, so he said he would begin another on his own when he was financially able to. She had him sign a document stating the RESP was now a sole subscription.

I know that this will come across as petty but please keep in mind this is a tiny piece of the picture and she has taken him to the cleaners in almost every other way possible, so it’s not as petty as it may seem at face value.

The RESP has grown I would imagine, given interest etc, grants over the last 5 years. Since he contributed for a number of years to that RESP, would he not be entitled to part of the growth over the last 5 years? Despite multiple written requests, she will not even tell him or provide any copies of documentation of the current value of the RESP, and has flat out said that no one can calculate that, so any and all growth would not count towards his 1/3 of post secondary expenses.

Excluding the fact that he never should have signed the form changing the RESP from joint to sole, and it should have been addressed in the separation agreement (his lawyer who did have good reviews said that “you can be adults and work this out fairly so it doesn’t need to be included”) - does he have a leg to stand on?

Thanks for any guidance…..