Support for College
If you
have a child graduating from high school this year, now is the time to be
thinking about paying for the child’s education. If you have been receiving child support,
that support is likely to end very soon.
Most Child Support Orders terminate support upon the child reaching age
18 or graduation from high school, whichever occurs last. Only a very few orders provide for payment
toward post-secondary education. The
most common language requires you to petition the court for this support prior to the time child support ends.
From a
practical standpoint, if you wait too long you can lose the right to ask a
court to require the other parent to assist with post-secondary expenses. Even if you petition the court in time, it
may very well take so long to get the issue settled that the child has already
started school.
In
Washington the courts are willing to decide these issues once the child has
applied and been accepted at a school.
Generally, acceptance letters are sent out by this time each year. In the case of a community college, your
child will need to take the initiative because the registration deadlines are
later.
Once a
petition is filed and served, a court will usually hear the case within four
months. Consequently, if you file now
you should have a court order in place before any money needs to be paid to the
school.
As a
final thought, it is pretty common in my practice to have parents say: “Well, the other parent promised to help with
college, but now they won’t help.”
Promises are fine, but if you want to be assured that your child will
get help with school you need a court order.
This protects both parents, and gives you a legally enforceable right to
the help your child needs. If the other
parent is making promises, that’s great,
but if they are sincere in their commitment they should have no problem working
on an agreed order. If they aren’t
willing to cooperate, you need to take this as a red flag and talk to an
attorney.
