child support vs college support in Indiana

[bdib664]

My husband has a 19 year old daughter from a previous marriage, she graduated from high school March 2000 and has not attended any post-secondary school. We were just informed now that she intends to attend college starting in August 2001. She lives in Minnesota but the support order is from Indiana. He is still paying child support even though she has been working and not going to school. Could someone please tell us what if any legal actions we have to stop child support and are we legally responsible for her college education since she did not attend for over a year. Also, she has flatly refused to visit her father for over 8 years, but he has paid his support. We have been married for 16 years and have our own children too. Thanks for your assistance.

 

[meleahk1]

in some states the age is 18 unless they are still in high school, then the age is 19. it is suppose to be automacally stopped at the end of the month in which they turn 18 or 19 or at the end of the high school year. however, if the child turned 18 the last year of high school, the father will have to petition the courts to have it stopped because of the age of 19 being written into the agreement. i know this because my ex had too!

he may have to petiotion the courts at any rate!

some state require college child support, but most do not. you will need to find the website in which the juridiction is still active and find their state statues or child support guideline.

you can call the local court house there and ask them as well.

if the divorce decree didn't specifically state that he had to pay for child support via college then is won't have to. however, if the laws of that state say he can be made to do so, then expect to be back in court.

on the other hand, he may want to help put her through college if she is wanting to go, which is a good thing.

good luck

 

[dorenephilpot]

When she turned 18 and was not attending college, you needed to go to court and have her declared emancipated.

Emancipation would have relieved you of your obligation to pay support on her -- or college expenses if she decided a year or two later to go.

However, because you didn't do that and now that she's planning to attend college, you might be on the hook for that, if your ex takes you back to court and asks that you help pay for the college funds.

Generally it's based on income, so depending on what you earn vs. what your ex earns, you may be on the hook for a portion of it, not all.

You can also request that that the court order each of you to pay a third, dad, mom and child. This is a popular choice for folks.

BTW, you won't have to pay support AND college expenses. It's one or the other.

Now, if it turns out that she's not in school and changes her mind about going, get yourself to court immediately and ask that she be declared emancipated.

Hope this helps!

 

[LegalBeagle]

You can also request that that the court order each of you to pay a third, dad, mom and child. This is a popular choice for folks.

Or you can appeal any decision against you and try and force this issue to the US Supreme Court. I am pretty sure it violates the Equal Protection of the 14th Amendment.

Father is ordered to pay for college expenses for child number 1 whom mother he divorced. The father has a 2nd child with another women and they are still married. There are no laws that force this man to pay for the college education of the 2nd child. Also, money paying for 1st child's college could be stopping him from helping 2nd child.

 

[bdib664]

child support/college support Indiana

We did not find out that she was out of high school and not going to college until August 2001. We have not had any contact with her or her mother for approximately 8 years. The 19 year old daughter sent our daughter an email that told her that she had graduated and was working and was now planning to go to college. We didn't even have her address or phone number. We could not get any information from the court house because they said that the information is private info, and if we wanted it, we would have to ask her mother. Ha. Ha. How do we do that when we have no way of asking her. My husband went to an attorney and he was told there was nothing he could do about any of this and to just keep paying his support. Any suggestions?? Thanks.

 

[LegalBeagle]

Retain an attorney and file to stop CS. This forces the mother to justify the continuing support and effectively brings her out of the woodwork.

 

[dorenephilpot]

Legal Beagle's advice is dead-on.

And even if she IS in college. If you can prove the daughter repudiated the parent-child relationship between father and daughter you MIGHT, if you get the right judge, get out of paying for college.

There is case law out there supporting this cessation, but it's sometimes tough selling it to a judge.

It really is a very fact-sensitive area....

 

[bdib664]

How can we prove that she didn't want to visit or have anything to do with her father? We didn't even have her address or phone number to get in touch with her. It would just be her mother's word and her word against ours. Plus, the attorney's that we have dealt with are not very helpful.

 

[meleahk1]

you could always have the judge question her?

good luck

 

[bdib664]

Her mother never tells the truth when we do go to court, so it is a waste of time. We are tired of the system. She can do no wrong when we go to court. The judge and lawyers already have things worked out before we even walk into the courtroom. Don't really know what else to do about it.