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  • Child support during university

    Back on this forum after 5 years...ex filing motion again for court. Looking for advice/experience and caselaw regarding CS continuation once the children are at university and living AWAY from home. Both of my kids will be attending university this fall.



    Currently have an amendment to my agreement that states I will receive CS for oldest daughter (full CS in summer months and 50% during the school year). Ex has been following this and paying for last 2 years. Youngest now set to attend University in Sept and ex wants to ONLY pay full summer months for her. Huh? As an aside...I am paying 50-50 section 7 university costs despite what should be 28-73 split. This is due to RESP funds which are considered the "child's" despite 100 percent allocation through my budget.



    Questions:
    1. Any precedent set for treating second child the same as the first?
    2. Are RESP funds ever considered right of the parent not child and therefore allocated to income split?

    3. Amendment is signed and witnessed but not court ordered. Ability to stand up in court?



    Thank you!

  • #2
    If it was agreed to and you both signed and had independent legal advice then it will hold up BUT if it is specifically for the other kid then it does not apply for the next one unless it was written that way. There must have been a reason for it...is the income of the paying parent high?

    CS is not paid for a child living away from home unless there are other circumstances. My husbands lawyer is gathering case law on this to “educate” the opposing counsel. Which is why I said there must have been a reason for him agreeing to cs while kid was away.

    As far as the split is concerned, why is kid not paying a portion? Or is the RESP their portion? I will give you this advice that my husband got and it was backed up by a judge. If you had an RESP opened during the marriage and it was never bought out by one party then that comes off either the top or the parents share. In my husbands case the RESP comes off the parents share. He doesn’t calculate it that way though, he leaves it to the child. Ultimately they use it to pay the bill. If you opened and RESP and you paid into it, you could use it for your portion of the expense. Just as if your ex opened one after the split it would go to his share.

    I should also note that the judge my husband appeared in front of said that allocating one third the cost of education (including residence and meals) to the child would not shock the court. The child would be responsible for it and have to use income, savings and loans AND they would look to see what the child did on their summers and time off from school. Meaning that the kid is expected to contribute especially if they are incurring an additional cost to go away to school.

    Comment


    • #3
      RESP was opened during marriage but divorce occurred while kids were very young (2 and 4) so majority of funds were paid into by each party.

      No independent counsel for either party for amendment. Although i have emails stating my ex consulted with his lawyer.

      Yes ex is high income earner. T4 was 263,000 last year. Does this impact CS payment for time that kids are away at University?

      Thx for your reply....appreciated.

      Comment


      • #4
        It might. What is your income?

        And why are the expenses split 50:50? If he is earning that much he should be paying a higher portion.

        Comment


        • #5
          Our original agreement stated that the RESP portion would be deducted off the section 7 expenses as the child's portion. Meaning 50-50 split....as we were both mandated to individually pay maximum RESP every year and the children were obviously not contributing. I went to court in 2014 and successfully removed mandated RESP payment (among other things) as it was unfair due to the disparity in our incomes to require such. To note...at signing of SA I was receiving SS so my net income was higher. I gave up SS in 2014. My income is currently 1/3 of my ex.

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          • #6
            Then if he is filing a motion you ask for the remaining split to be proportionate to income.

            I should add the your kids should be contributing outside the RESP. If you are so upset about it going to them then you should be expecting them to contribute something over and above the RESP.

            But definitely demand he pay his proper %. The cs may not be ordered.

            Comment


            • #7
              Thanks Rockscan...will do. 😊

              Comment

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