Post-secondary Education

[Reba15]

My husband has three children, ages 22, 20 and 18. All three children are in college this year.

The 22 year old lived with us when he was 18, but moved in with his girlfriend when he was 20. He lived with his girlfriend for two years, but the relationship didn't work out and has decided to go back to college. He is attending college two hours away, but he comes home every week-end (he has a part-time job in town). He is splitting his week-ends between his father and mother.

The 20 year old goes to college in town and lives with 7 other guys in a house.

The 18 year old lives with his mother and attends college in town.

My husband earns $88,000/year (nets $2100 every two weeks). We give $500/month to the oldest boy. He did not earn very much money over the last two years and did not have any money when he started college. He did get OSAP worth $12,000. We have decided to pay half of his OSAP. His mother states that since he received OSAP, he doesn't require any support. He also needs to get his teeth fixed.

The 20 year old. We have paid for 1/2 his tuition and all his equipment associated with his program. This amounts to $250.00/month. We also give him $200.00/month towards his rent.

The 18 year old. We paid for 1/2 his tuition and all his equipment associated with his program. This amounted to $250.00/month also. We have been giving his mother $525.00/month child support every month also. My husband's ex-wife states that we owe her $750.00/month for the youngest one plus 1/2 of all his expenses.

The total amount that we are paying right now amounts to $1675/month. If anyone could help me the following questions, that would be great.
Does the court have a limit on how much money we have to pay? Should we have to take out a loan in order to pay the children's college fund. Does the mother have to support the 22 year old even though he got OSAP? How does child support get split among three children that don't live in one place? Any information would be appreciated.

[logicalvelocity]

How come the 18 year old is not working part time to make some contribution to their own future. It's reasonable that they do.

[Reba15]

The 18 year old does work part-time on week-ends, but he just got the job. He also worked part-time during the summer.

[logicalvelocity]

Good as it's relevant to the S7 expense which is generally prorated and reflective of the parent's income less what the 18 year old earns. Not much you can do about the 750 in CS if that is the amount as per the guidelines concerning same.

PS. Welcome to the forum

[Reba15]

Thanks for the welcome. I do have a few more questions:

1) From reading the information on the forum, I understand the children must use their income to support post-secondary education. does the court use the child's income rom 2010 or their 2009 tax assessment. The 18 year old just got a job in the summer of 2010.

2) What about the other two children who have moved out. How much support do we have to pay them? Does she have a responsibility to support the other two children as well. She is saying that she does not have to support the 22 year old at all. If the 22 year old lives with us in the summertime, would we be entitled to child support?

3) Should we just pay her the $750.00, and not worry whether she supports the 22 year old or is it worth hiring a lawyer.

[billiechic]

Was there a separation agreement? Usually the law supports that each parent will pay a portion of the post secondary costs proportional to their income. The child will be responsible for 1/3 and the remaining 2/3 divide between the parents.

The first child..you are not obligated to support. He left both homes and supported himself and there is no legal obligation. Morally, you are doing the right thing by helping out. Depending on your SA, you may have to pay. It's a tough call.

The second child. Did he go straight to school or did he take a job after graduation? The same rationale applies as to the first child. If he did go straight into school, then you are still on the hook for CS, paid to his mother, if he lived with her last. Alternately, if both parents agree you could pay the CS to the child, but that needs to be in writing.

3rd child..full CS due and same proportionate amount of school costs.

You need to add up everything you *could* owe and what you are paying now and see what the difference is.

[Reba15]

There was a separation agreement, but it was made 15 years ago. The child support guidelines were not in effect at the time and there was no mention of post-secondary school.

The oldest child - if he moved back to our house, would she not be entitled to pay child support?

The second child - he shared residence 50/50 with his mom and dad. Now he lives on his own with 7 other gentlemen. We pay 1/2 his rent and 1/2 of all his school expenses. He seems satisfied with this. '

[NBDad]

The oldest child - if he moved back to our house, would she not be entitled to pay child support?

Not to my understanding. Since he moved OUT ON HIS OWN with his girlfriend, he ceased to be a child of the marriage. Legally your obligation is done. So is Mom's.

The second child - he shared residence 50/50 with his mom and dad. Now he lives on his own with 7 other gentlemen. We pay 1/2 his rent and 1/2 of all his school expenses. He seems satisfied with this.

Mom should be contributing a proportional share of his school expenses. (ie. tuition/etc).

The way post secondary usually works is the parents contribute 2/3 of the cost AFTER bursaries, scholarshps and student loans are applied. The child is supposed to contribute the remaining 1/3.

This should apply to both of the younger 2 from what you describe. Full support is still owed for the younger child. Offset support should be owed for the middle child since he lived 50-50 with both parents and is still technically considered a "child of the marriage" so long as he is still in school.

[Reba15]

Thank you so much for your reply. It has helped immensely.

[Reba15]

We visited a lawyer today and this is what is he said:

Oldest Child - since he is only 22 years and this is his first diploma, he should be entitled to child support. We have to calculate what his expenses are and then calculate his expenses proportionate to parent's income. It is not fair to expect that he should go into debt (not the other children) just because he is an adult.

2nd child - seems like we have reached an agreement with him

3rd child - the lawyer said that we should find out the ex-wife's salary for the last three years and whether she is willing to support the 1st child.

We have sent an email to find out whether she will support the 1st child, but I don't think we will get an answer. The lawyer said we should call her bluff.
\