Child at University

Hi

All the matters in my rather protracted divorce are now complete; Clean Break order and DA all finalised.

I have one child who is at University (first degree studies) and who resides with the ex outside of term times. What are my legal obligations re payments for his studies.

Thanks

BOS

Is there any provision made for child maintenance in the court order and if so when does it say it will cease? In England & Wales when no provision is made there is no legal obligation to pay maintenance for children over 18 in higher education.

However, your son could make a claim for maintenance in his own right so if you can afford to contribute something it might be worth negotiating directly with him.

Hi Fiona

Thanks for the response, no provision has been made in the order, Im more than happy to contribute to his ongoing education, but as I have very little out of the divorce I just want to know what is a reasonable amount to pay.

Thanks

BOS

BoS,
There''s been a similar discussion on another thread in the past day or so.
Without knowing your means, it is hard to know what figure to suggest. If you are able, it would be useful for you to pay a reasonable phone contract for him say 30 a month plus something towards food bills - maybe 20 - 30 a week if you can afford it.

If you have more than that, I would suggest putting it into a postgraduate fund to help with the costs of further study and/or travel and accommodation. You could make it clear that you will help out in an emergency.

Determining what is a reasonable amount is difficult. As a rough guide students need about £10k a year to cover their living costs. From that figure you can deduct any student finance and what the student can reasonably be expected to earn to establish the shortfall.

In our case initially I agreed to pay a proportion of the shortfall and the children negotiated the rest with their father. Unfortunately my ex was made redundant so now I make up all the shortfall which works out at £200 a month.

If you look at the university website, it should have a page that gives a guide to the costs of living and studying there. Costs do vary but for example if your son is studying in London, the loan available does reflect that.

Hadenoughnow

Thanks all for the swift responses.

I think what is hard after paying out to a parastic ex the question re my child at university and what is reasonable. After getting approx a global deal worth 80% of everything she still expects me to pay all my childs needs at university. I want to be both fair and reasonable, afterall i still have a house and all furniture to buy