Adult "Child" definition

[dadatlarge]

Hello all, appreciate your advice here.

Am living in BC. I have a son who is now 20. My ex- and I separated 12 years ago and I have been paying CS based on an off-set calc as we have 50/50 living arrangements. However, he has now left the province, and the ex- and her husband have now occupied his bedroom (they were previously sleeping in the living room). He says he plans to come back for the summer at least for some of the time, but on the other hand has signed a lease for one year starting in May 2015 when the school year has finished.

We have an old sep agreement from 2003, but no other legal agreements. That agreement stated that she was to receive X amount in CS, but could be changed after SS ran out (which was 2008) We were never married. I have been paying her CS based on off-set calculation for shared parenting until now, in addition to paying all of my son's tuition, room and board, etc. that he cannot cover (he makes about $400 / month, but his fees and expenses are about $2000 / month more than that).

So my questions are:

1. Is he still a child?
2. Do I owe CS to ex- still?
3. If I owe CS, can I pay it directly to him?

Many thanks in advance,
DAL

[rockscan]

Adult "Child" definition

If hes still in school then yes. However the other costs are not being calculated properly.

School is calculated normally at one third to the child and the remaining two thirds calculated according to s7 split. That includes tuition, books, fees, equipment and living expenses. You total it all up, split the one third to him (which is covered by bursaries, loans, grants, RESP grants, income, scholarships etc), and the remainder of costs are split by you and your ex.

In most cases, CS is stopped or reduced during time away at school as the costs are put into living expenses there. If you and your ex cant agree on what that amount is, you would need a judge.

This is all what our lawyer told us for my partners child away at school. Your situation could be different.

To answer your questions though:
1. Yes
2. Yes during months he is home
3. You are paying to him via school costs paid.

How long has he been in school and youve been following this? And what does your agreement say? Most of the time it says one degree or that cs will change when child goes away. If he is spending the months off school in a different location, you could pay him but it all depends on how reasonable your ex is.

[rockscan]

You should also do a canlii search on this in BC. See what cases in your province have had decisions on and what they looked like.

[dadatlarge]

Thank you Rockscan. Yes, I think I am overpaying in two ways: first I am still paying CS to ex-, second I am paying all the costs (beyond what my son contributes from working and scholarships). Unfortunately, our agreement was made in 2003 when we didn't anticipate anything like this (at least I didn't foresee it), and therefore there is nothing explicitly stated when 'child' ceases to be one, and how costs are to be apportioned when he has moved out of home and going to university.

This is his second year at university. Last year, he stayed in the province and lived half time at each our residences. again, I continued to pay CS as well as all education costs.

I did a brief Canlii search in BC and think that you are correct, that CS to the ex- should stop when he is living outside the province, and that 2/3 the cost of schooling should be split between us based on income. It seems quite straightforward now.

Thanks for your advice!

D-A-L

[rockscan]

Read the federal child support guidelines too. They have info in there on school costs.

Not only is she being unfair to you but also to her son. Its great he is responsible enough to pay what he does but you're both responsible for his education.

If she doesnt want to work together you may have to go to court. Then determine if its worth it. If her costs would be more than court, might be worth it. Even to get CS to stop since it should go to kid. I have a sneaky feeling the cs you pay her now isnt going to kid is it?

[dadatlarge]

Hi Rockscan, I don't think that what she is doing is fair, but I believe I don't need to go to court to reduce the amount payable to her since there was never a court order that she could enforce through FMEP. So, I think I am reasonable to say that I am going to stop paying CS to her, and that she should start contributing her proportionate share.

Agree, none of the CS that is paid to her while he is going to school back east is going to him.

I have another question regarding my second kid, but I'll post it as a different topic.

Thanks so much for your advice
D-A-L

[rockscan]

You may have to go to court for an order for her proportionate share of the expenses. If she turns around and says screw you Im not paying anything for these kids, you'll be stuck. Plus an order for S7 and CS that would be paid to you for kid 2 would be enforced by the maintenance agency so at least you would get those costs back.