Wednesday, October 19, 2011

College Expenses are Child Support and subject to Modification Rule

College Expenses are Child Support and subject to Modification Rule

The Illinois Supreme Court has ruled that college expenses are a form of child support and a petition to allocate them is a modification request subject to Section 510 of the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act.

Janet and Kevin Petersen had three sons, then divorced. The divorce decree reserved the issue of college expenses. Eight years later Janet filed a Petition to Allocate College Expenses. At that time the oldest boy had finished college, the middle boy was in college, and the youngest was still in high school. The trial court allocated 75% of all college expenses to Kevin, including expenses incurred before Janet filed her Petition. Kevin appealed.

The Supreme Court held that college expenses are a form of child support and are subject to the section addressing modification. Reserving the issue in the divorce decree made no difference because the word modify plainly includes any post-decree change to the parties’ obligations. Because the original decree did not require either parent to pay college expenses the Petition “sought to change the status quo” which made it a request to modify child support.

Because the Petition was a request to modify support, and by rule such requests were not retroactive, Kevin could not be required to pay amounts incurred before the Petition was filed.

BUT the Court’s instructions on remand said that when determining how to allocate the college expenses, the trial court needed to analyze each parent’s financial resources including “the fact that Janet’s financial resources may have been depleted” by paying for the earlier college expenses.

IRMO Petersen, 2011 IL 110984

Submitted by
Brian D. Moore
http://www.napervilledivorcelaw.com/
brian@napervilledivorcelaw.com

7 comments:

las vegas divorce lawyers said...

This is a difficult issue. Some parents cannot afford sending their kids to college even if they are not divorced. I wonder how strict can this order be enforced.

wrongful death attorney los angeles said...

A child's education should be a priority for divorced parents even if they are separated. Proper modification of the law must be exercised and consider the best action that will benefit a child.

Daisy Dee said...

I agree that it must be covered by child support. Education is very important to everyone and we should not, especially the parents despite their problems, take this away from our children. They have the right to enter college, especially if their parents can support them. These things should not be affected by their divorce. family lawyers perth

michaeloco said...

Interesting. I am aspiring to be a long island divorce lawyer someday. I am currently in college and I love reading situational discussions regarding some divorce cases. This one is a pretty interesting case, but in my opinion, it is right that Kevin should pay for a part of the expenses even for their eldest son. Nonetheless, I am not sure about the percentage he has to share.

Orlando Silas said...

This should serve as a lesson on family obligations. Once you start having kids, you can't go out and act like a bachelor again.
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Unknown said...

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