College and CS clarification

[CJane]

Below is a link to the PSEW. You would (I believe), use it in conjunction with a CSOW, in order to determine what a court MIGHT order regarding college expenses.

http://www.in.gov/judiciary/files/psew.pdf

It's not the same thing as child support that is paid prior to emancipation.

Oh, and The Google found this:

Indiana Law Regarding Post-Secondary Education Expenses
Pursuant to Indiana law, trial courts may order parents to be responsible for all or a portion of a child’s post-secondary education expenses. The trial court is to consider the statutory factors in determining whether such an order is reasonable. These factors include:
The child's ability and aptitude
The child's ability to obtain loans and other sources of financing
The ability of each parent to obtain additional financing
Special medical, hospital or dental expenses of the child
Current child support payments already being made

Post-Secondary Education Orders
Typically the issue comes down to a determination of what the family would have done had they stayed intact and the financial resources of the parties remained the same. The orders of post-secondary education vary widely, and the court can order either the child, father or mother, or a combination thereof to pay the expense. For example:
Father to pay 50%/mother to pay 50%
Father to pay 25%/mother to pay 75%
Father to pay 33%/mother to pay 33%/child to pay 33%

The court can also place limitations on the expenses, such as limiting parents to the cost of a four-year education at an in-state institution.

 

[LdiJ]

I wish you would reconsider. Here is what you posted earlier: "Its one thing if mom is asking for child support to continue through college."

One question that would help me understand: If emancipation is granted, how would she request child support to continue through college?

And I am listening.

No, if emancipation is granted she cannot as for child support to continue through college. There can be circumstances where emancipation would not be granted...they are fairly rare. She can however ask that you be required to share in the cost of college expenses...actual college expenses. Not some calculated monthly amount but ACTUAL college expenses. Not some formula that you can research to figure out how much its going to be but ACTUAL college expenses. Hourly tuition rate x the number of credit hours he takes. The cost of the specific books for his specific classes. The cost of equipment and supplies for his specific classes. The cost of transportation to get back and forth to school. His parking pass. etc.

 

[KLDAD]

Thank you.

 

[KLDAD]

Thank you CJane.

I have used the calculator and it is valuable in estimating the total amount of college expenses(with exception of any "other" expenses, such as transportation, etc. that could be figured in). The CSOW generates a percentage of obligation for each parent which, as pointed out by others who have replied(thank you LdiJ), may or may not be used by the court to determine the final obligation toward college expenses for each party.

The CSOW also generates a recommended child support obligation. Currently my son lives at home while attending school. So when I fill out the CSOW it asks for the number of "overnights" for each parent. As he will be in school 9 months of the year and working on his breaks, my time with him will be limited. I input mine at a minimum(0-51), and for my ex the maximum(184+). This method gives a result that is the exactly the same as if I were still calculating Child Support. He is not paying Room and Board to the school, so I am assuming that the state has decided that he is, in effect, paying "Room and Board" to his mother. Do you think that my assumption in that regard is correct?

Thanks again.

 

[CJane]

The state won't assume anything.

College support, if ordered, will be based on ACTUAL expenses. The judge will determine what %, if any, you are responsible for.

 

[KLDAD]

The state won't assume anything.

College support, if ordered, will be based on ACTUAL expenses. The judge will determine what %, if any, you are responsible for.

I see your point. I didn't mean to imply that they would assume. What I should have written is that if the court uses the same process for calculation, ie:the CSOW and PSEW(understanding that these will probably only be used as a starting point, not a specific or final determination), when there is no Room and Board to be input, the implication is that the child lives at home. In fact, the CSOW requires the overnights to be included and total 365 nights. That, in turn, generates a CS obligation higher than as if the student were living at school.

The relevance to me is simply that, using the CSOW and the PSEW, comparing my son living at home versus living at school amounts to a difference of @$1500 per year. Far be it from me to complain about saving $1500 over a years time, but in relation to the total cost of a college education it is rather a small sum. What I meant to suggest in my previous post was that it appears that when a child lives at home while attending college, the mother(in this case) does receive a subsidy for providing the students room and board.

As you and others have posted, the court has the discretion and utilizes factual figures to determine obligations, but I wonder how much latitude they will exercise when(if indeed they use the CSOW and PSEW) they have used these worksheets? This may be a rhetorical question so I am only hoping for opinion from the forum.

Thanks again. I do appreciate your comments.