Death of CP

[Elissmith]

What is the name of your state?Massachusetts.
Does anyone know if a divorce agreement, and the child support orders, end if the CP dies? Do the NCP financial obligations then become moral and not based on what a court decided? And can any other family try to step in and assume the role of the CP for an 18 year old in that situation? Thanks for your thoughts.

 

[rmet4nzkx]

What is the name of your state?Massachusetts.
Does anyone know if a divorce agreement, and the child support orders, end if the CP dies? Do the NCP financial obligations then become moral and not based on what a court decided? And can any other family try to step in and assume the role of the CP for an 18 year old in that situation? Thanks for your thoughts.

You have been asking the same question over and over and I suppose you are not getting the answer you want.

You need to provide the facts including the wording of the court orders re post secondary education, small words like and/ or can be very important to the interpretation. More than likely you will need an attorney to amend any agreement, however, that may cost more than the amount of PSCS owed. The time for making provisions re school criteria was when the parents were making the agreement.

Has the CP died?

 

[Elissmith]

Yes...the CP just died. Our situation is very complicated, in part due to the fact that my step-son has completely alienated himself from us and we have had absolutely no contact with him for almost a year with no understanding as to why.
I don't know what you meant by repeating my question when I really see differant questions there...perhaps I'm not making myself clear. I just wonder about the value of a divorce agreement involving an 18 y/o whose CP has now died.
The wording in the divorce agreement regarding college costs was vague, at best. It states they are to be "shared".

 

[haiku]

Child support in Ma. only ends at 18, if the child does not continue to full time college. If the kid is in full time colege child support continues until 23 or 24 I cannot remeber which but it is easily found if you google.

If the CP has died you would need to petition the court to end child support. If there is arearages owed you would still be liable to the CP's estate for those.

Looks to me you need to go to court anyway to clarify what "shared" means, as that is to vague, and now that one of the parties is dead even more so.

Massachusetts has no statute for college costs that is purely up to the parents as to how they want to deal with such things, if at all.

 

[SingleMom67]

Your husband's ex has died in the past week? I find that VERY hard to believe. Now take BB's advice (WHICH HE GAVE YOU TWICE) and stop posting the same question over and over because you don't like the answers you're getting!!!

This was posted 9/12/05:

Thank you for the responses. By "typically", I was referring to BelizeBreeze's response. I have no idea about who should contribute what. As for who is trying to make an extra buck....it must be my husband's exwife because she believes the current divorce agreement, which states "college costs will be shared", should be interpretted as my husband will be paying 1/2 of tuition, room and board and other fees. Also, she still expects full child support payments to be mailed to her. It seems so unfair since we don't have an extra cent toward the college costs.

 

[shaufe]

From my understanding, just because the CP dies, that does NOT mean the NCP no longer has to pay for college. This will definitely need to go back to court unless some kind of agreement can be made because "share" is such a general term, but be prepared to be contributing something towards the childs college. You may want to offer paying for half of any college costs after grants and scholarships are taken out and go from there. If it goes back to court, be sure to address issues such as summer school, additional living expenses, student loans, number of years to be paid (what if it takes him 5 years to graduate?), and child support (if he will be residing with someone) during the summer months. Good luck and hopefully this relationship can start to mend - the child will definitely need that with the CP being gone.

 

[Elissmith]

Thanks for the advice. For the angry singlemom, and for the angry responses from "BB" in the past, please read on: Yes, the ex died this weekend and I am not lying. And if you think I am repeating myself it might be because you are not reading the questions correctly. PS, there are nicer ways of stating something, BB.

 

[betterthanher]

From my understanding, just because the CP dies, that does NOT mean the NCP no longer has to pay for college.

And where do you expect to get this money from a person that is no longer alive? Especially if that person didn't have an estate or life insurance? I don't think those kind of trees have been planted yet.

This will definitely need to go back to court unless some kind of agreement can be made because "share" is such a general term, but be prepared to be contributing something towards the childs college.

Again, the NCP is dead....where will this money come from? Send the bill to the cemetary?

You may want to offer paying for half of any college costs after grants and scholarships are taken out and go from there. If it goes back to court, be sure to address issues such as summer school, additional living expenses, student loans, number of years to be paid (what if it takes him 5 years to graduate?), and child support (if he will be residing with someone) during the summer months. Good luck and hopefully this relationship can start to mend - the child will definitely need that with the CP being gone.

NCP IS DEAD!! Say there is no estate...no life insurance....nothing! So, this money for all of this in the future will come from....???

 

[betterthanher]

Thanks for the advice. For the angry singlemom, and for the angry responses from "BB" in the past, please read on: Yes, the ex died this weekend and I am not lying. And if you think I am repeating myself it might be because you are not reading the questions correctly. PS, there are nicer ways of stating something, BB.

You've asked about college education expenses in a half-dozen different threads and all are worded slightly different.

It tends to make people angry when they offer you legal advice, then see another thread from you asking about the same thing, but a different scenario. Then another thread about the same thing and ANOTHER different scenario and so one. Now in this thread, there's dead obligor.

"Hi, Jerry Bruckheimer...yeah, got this plot for an episode of 'CSI' this season...."

 

[LdiJ]

And where do you expect to get this money from a person that is no longer alive? Especially if that person didn't have an estate or life insurance? I don't think those kind of trees have been planted yet.


Again, the NCP is dead....where will this money come from? Send the bill to the cemetary?


NCP IS DEAD!! Say there is no estate...no life insurance....nothing! So, this money for all of this in the future will come from....???

Its the CP who has alledgedly died...not the ncp.

 

[Elissmith]

I asked differant questions that came up...not the same questions and if you actually read them and think about them, you would notice that. Now the CP died...this weekend, in fact. I know...hard to believe, but true. Sorry to anger anyone, however it seemed that some initial responses did not address my questions. I've got some freakin nerve, don't I? Boy, if it angers you that I have the nerve to now ask about college expenses now that the CP died, well my friend, you need to get a life. PS - Watch that blood pressure.

 

[haiku]

I answered your question. and yeah, really odd reaction to the SUDDEN death of your stepsons parent, regardless of if you "hated" her or not.........

 

[rmet4nzkx]

If we can believe you, you still have not provided the text of the agreement, now you claim your stepson's mother died 1 or 2 days ago, she is not in her grave yet and this is all you are concerned about? No wonder your stepson and his father are estranged!

 

[shaufe]

excuse me?

And where do you expect to get this money from a person that is no longer alive? Especially if that person didn't have an estate or life insurance? I don't think those kind of trees have been planted yet.


Again, the NCP is dead....where will this money come from? Send the bill to the cemetary?


NCP IS DEAD!! Say there is no estate...no life insurance....nothing! So, this money for all of this in the future will come from....???

Try not to be so rude. If you had read carefully, you would see that it is the CP who died, not the NCP.

 

[CO19]

she is not in her grave yet and this is all you are concerned about? No wonder your stepson and his father are estranged!

Ditto That! I am amazed how many of the OP of these threads are writing "on behalf of" someone else. Where are the parties involved?? Rarely see them... always the lover/stepmom/stepfather, etc requesting assistance on matters that THEY are NOT even a party to... I wish there would be a policy on these forums that the OP must be the direct party requesting the help and ignore the rest <g>