When our d17 was born, my ex father-in-law opened an RESP for her, and later for our son. He assured us he would take care of the education costs (their family has always had education trust funds for all children going back generations) and to my knowledge he has done so.
My ex and I recently discussed d17 going to university, and last summer updated our separation agreement to have a formula for sharing costs. The RESP, scholarships, bursaries will come off the top; OSAP and money from p/t jobs will cover d17's share; the remainder will be split between my ex and myself proportionately as a section 7. Fine so far.
I am supposed to get a statement of the worth of the RESP. My ex is now shuffling her feet. My position is that if I don't know the amount of RESP, then I can't do financial planning. My worry is that they are controlling the funds; I will not know how much the fund is worth and whether my ex actually making any personal payments as a section 7. That is to say, the RESP may be substantial, and ex's father will pay her out in cash, and she will contribute nothing, but expect me to make a subtantial contribution.
Can anyone who has dealt with RESPs fill me in? Can our daughter get a statement of the worth of the fund, should her grandfather balk at providing one? Are the funds paid out to the student, or to the parent/grandparent?
The web search that I have tried yields plenty of instructions on how to open an RESP, but nothing about who ultimate controls the withdrawls, or whether the student can request a statement of account. Since the grandfather is not a party to the separation agreement, I cannot force him to disclose the information.
My ex and I recently discussed d17 going to university, and last summer updated our separation agreement to have a formula for sharing costs. The RESP, scholarships, bursaries will come off the top; OSAP and money from p/t jobs will cover d17's share; the remainder will be split between my ex and myself proportionately as a section 7. Fine so far.
I am supposed to get a statement of the worth of the RESP. My ex is now shuffling her feet. My position is that if I don't know the amount of RESP, then I can't do financial planning. My worry is that they are controlling the funds; I will not know how much the fund is worth and whether my ex actually making any personal payments as a section 7. That is to say, the RESP may be substantial, and ex's father will pay her out in cash, and she will contribute nothing, but expect me to make a subtantial contribution.
Can anyone who has dealt with RESPs fill me in? Can our daughter get a statement of the worth of the fund, should her grandfather balk at providing one? Are the funds paid out to the student, or to the parent/grandparent?
The web search that I have tried yields plenty of instructions on how to open an RESP, but nothing about who ultimate controls the withdrawls, or whether the student can request a statement of account. Since the grandfather is not a party to the separation agreement, I cannot force him to disclose the information.
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