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Paying for Child’s College | Atlanta Family Law

Scott Shaw | 592 Views | 11/02/2015

Agreeing to Pay Children’s College Education

Hello. My name is Scott Shaw, founder and principle of Shaw Law Firm LLC, a law firm I founded in 1995. Shaw custody, along with divorce and other areas of family law, are our only area of legal practice. We do not accept any other types of cases. In this video I will be discussing the topic of agreeing to pay for your children’s college education.

This is a topic that people reflexively agree to do to be nice. It’s also one of the biggest legal mistakes that can be made in divorce and child custody matters. I am by no means stating that you should not support your kids through school. Yes, by all means do so, but don’t really bind yourself to do so unless you get something in return. Let me explain further. A Georgia trial court has absolutely no power to order any parent to pay for their adult children’s college education. None. Zero. The only way the court obtains this power is if you voluntarily give it to the court by agreeing to pay for your children’s college expenses in a settlement agreement that gets entered in a court’s order. And why would you want to give any court more power over you than the law allows to begin with?

Settlement Agreement

One of the biggest and most costly mistakes I have ever seen a party make in regard to a child’s support in a divorce case, is agreeing, in a settlement agreement, to pay for the college expenses of each of his six children as part of his child support. I was retained to try to get this client out of this horrendous deal he had made. To make matters worse, in doing so in his agreement, he put no limits on the expenses. He had no time limit.

So, for example, what if a child suddenly decided to go to college at age thirty, or decided to stay in college for six or more years, and he put no limit on expenses? So, for example, what if the child chose to go to Harvard, or any of the various $40,000 plus per year schools, plus room and board? To make matters even worse, this man only made $96,000 per year. And sure enough, his kids started going to college, with one child choosing a university in the state of Nebraska that was one of the most expensive schools in America. In this particular case, the father also became estranged from his children. They openly mocked him, but nevertheless, that was not legal reason to not pay as he agreed to pay for their college expenses.

Child Support vs Child Education

Do not let this happen to you. As child support, a court in the state of Georgia absolutely does not have the power to order you to pay for your children’s college education. Not a single penny’s worth. The only way a court gains this power is if you agree to pay for your children’s college in a settlement agreement. For the most part, since you can voluntarily pay for your children’s college education any way, and you don’t need to have it made into a court order to do what you voluntarily want to do any way, why give the court this power over you? In most cases, there is absolutely no good reason to do so. So just don’t do it.

Exceptions to the Rule

However, there are exceptions to this rule. The biggest exception is if you get something in return for agreeing to pay for your children’s college education. A very common reason is that you were going to pay any way for the expense, but you get your spouse to agree to pay their fair share as well. So, for example, if you were going to pay 100% any way, but if you can get the other parent to promise in a settlement agreement to pay for 25 or 50% of the cost themselves, it puts the other parent’s skin in the game in regard to how much college will cost, and will save you money. Because now what you were going to pay 100%, your spouse is going to help you with. If you do decide to contribute to your children’s college expenses, and incorporate that into a legally binding obligation as additional child support, and you were doing so only because you were getting something in return for it, then you also have to draw up this provision properly and place specific limits on the terms of what you will pay for, how much you will pay, and for how long.

Contact Family Law Attorney

Do not let happen to you what happened to the father I opened this video with. Unless you voluntarily agree to do so in a settlement agreement, the court cannot order you do anything in regard to your children’s college education. And except in exceptional circumstances where you can gain an advantage, just never agree to do so. And if you do agree to do so, make sure, for God’s sake, that the provision is drafted properly. My name is Scott Shaw. If you have any questions or inquiries regarding this matter, I’d be happy to take them. Thank you.

By: Scott Shaw

Paying for Child’s College | Atlanta Family Law

Agreeing to Pay Children’s College Education

Hello. My name is Scott Shaw, founder and principle of Shaw Law Firm LLC, a law firm I founded in 1995. Shaw custody, along with divorce and other areas of family law, are our only area of legal practice. We do not accept any other types of cases. In this video I will be discussing the topic of agreeing to pay for your children’s college education.

This is a topic that people reflexively agree to do to be nice. It’s also one of the biggest legal mistakes that can be made in divorce and child custody matters. I am by no means stating that you should not support your kids through school. Yes, by all means do so, but don’t really bind yourself to do so unless you get something in return. Let me explain further. A Georgia trial court has absolutely no power to order any parent to pay for their adult children’s college education. None. Zero. The only way the court obtains this power is if you voluntarily give it to the court by agreeing to pay for your children’s college expenses in a settlement agreement that gets entered in a court’s order. And why would you want to give any court more power over you than the law allows to begin with?

Settlement Agreement

One of the biggest and most costly mistakes I have ever seen a party make in regard to a child’s support in a divorce case, is agreeing, in a settlement agreement, to pay for the college expenses of each of his six children as part of his child support. I was retained to try to get this client out of this horrendous deal he had made. To make matters worse, in doing so in his agreement, he put no limits on the expenses. He had no time limit.

So, for example, what if a child suddenly decided to go to college at age thirty, or decided to stay in college for six or more years, and he put no limit on expenses? So, for example, what if the child chose to go to Harvard, or any of the various $40,000 plus per year schools, plus room and board? To make matters even worse, this man only made $96,000 per year. And sure enough, his kids started going to college, with one child choosing a university in the state of Nebraska that was one of the most expensive schools in America. In this particular case, the father also became estranged from his children. They openly mocked him, but nevertheless, that was not legal reason to not pay as he agreed to pay for their college expenses.

Child Support vs Child Education

Do not let this happen to you. As child support, a court in the state of Georgia absolutely does not have the power to order you to pay for your children’s college education. Not a single penny’s worth. The only way a court gains this power is if you agree to pay for your children’s college in a settlement agreement. For the most part, since you can voluntarily pay for your children’s college education any way, and you don’t need to have it made into a court order to do what you voluntarily want to do any way, why give the court this power over you? In most cases, there is absolutely no good reason to do so. So just don’t do it.

Exceptions to the Rule

However, there are exceptions to this rule. The biggest exception is if you get something in return for agreeing to pay for your children’s college education. A very common reason is that you were going to pay any way for the expense, but you get your spouse to agree to pay their fair share as well. So, for example, if you were going to pay 100% any way, but if you can get the other parent to promise in a settlement agreement to pay for 25 or 50% of the cost themselves, it puts the other parent’s skin in the game in regard to how much college will cost, and will save you money. Because now what you were going to pay 100%, your spouse is going to help you with. If you do decide to contribute to your children’s college expenses, and incorporate that into a legally binding obligation as additional child support, and you were doing so only because you were getting something in return for it, then you also have to draw up this provision properly and place specific limits on the terms of what you will pay for, how much you will pay, and for how long.

Contact Family Law Attorney

Do not let happen to you what happened to the father I opened this video with. Unless you voluntarily agree to do so in a settlement agreement, the court cannot order you do anything in regard to your children’s college education. And except in exceptional circumstances where you can gain an advantage, just never agree to do so. And if you do agree to do so, make sure, for God’s sake, that the provision is drafted properly. My name is Scott Shaw. If you have any questions or inquiries regarding this matter, I’d be happy to take them. Thank you.

By: Scott Shaw