It could be challenging to consider long-term objectives while undergoing a divorce, including children. Children mature more quickly than you might anticipate, and before you realize it, they will consider attending college or another post-secondar institution. The divorce process should include making college tuition plans, and Connecticut law permits judges to force parents to contribute to their child’s academic costs. Contact Broder Orland Murray & DeMattie LLC to get the best legal advice.
Orders for educational needs
Suppose a child is registered in a school or vocational program. In that case, Connecticut authorities may instruct divorcing spouses and fathers subject to parentage orders to continue supporting their kids until the child is 23 years old. Child support orders typically end when the kid turns 18 or becomes emancipated. Tuition, lodging and board, textbooks, fees, applying costs, and medical and dental care costs may all be included in the order. According to the court’s order, one parent may be required to pay the other spouse or the school directly.
When making academic support orders, the court takes into account a number of variables, including:
- income, assets, and other responsibilities of each parent
- the young person’s financial requirements for attending education, as well as their potential for employment
- Financial assistance from other sources, such as scholarships and loans, may be available.
- How financially feasible it is, given the child’s academic history and the family’s financial situation, to pay for higher education
- if the parents had still been a part of the family, whether they would have paid for the child’s schooling.
- The kid’s dedication to going to college
- proof that the kid will enroll in the school in question
Funding following a divorce
Several students and their parents must submit financial aid applications due to the growing expense of higher education. The application process for financial aid may be a little trickier in cases of parent divorce. Parents must complete a College Application Help, or FAFSA, for their children to be eligible for federal student aid. The custodial parent should fill out the paperwork. The FAFSA requests specific financial information to determine your child’s eligibility for help. The new spouse’s income will be factored in if a primary caregiver has remarried.
Students attending several private universities must complete the Scholarship Program Service Profile to establish their qualifications for non-federal financial assistance. Unlike the FAFSA, the Profile asks for data from both the primary and noncustodial parent. When establishing a student’s eligibility for aid, some of the institutions that employ the Profile also consider the salaries of new spouses in addition to other elements like the length of the student’s parents’ separation.
