The legal obligations of a divorced parent to pay for his or her child’s higher education changes from state-to-state.
In Illinois, there was some clarity added to the issue with the passage of a new law on Jan. 1, 2016. Public Act 99-90 clarifies the timeframe under which divorced parents are required to contribute to their children’s college expenses. Public Act 99-90 is codified as 750 ILCS 5/513. Under the Public Act 99-90, parents may be required to contribute to educational expenses incurred before age 23, except if good cause is shown, and no later than age 25. If a child fails to maintain at least a “C” average at his or her school, the obligation is lifted.
The law also gives the court the authority to require both parents to go through the financial aid process and cover the cost of up to five college applications, as well as the cost of a standardized test prep course and the fees for the child to take up to two college entrance standardized tests.
In addition, the statute clarifies what defines a college expense, which includes — but is not limited to — tuition costs, fees, and room and board. It also sets the standard that the court cannot require a parent to pay more than what the standard cost of tuition and room and board is at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, for that particular year.
Divorcing couples with children should work with their lawyers to address the issue of future college payments when agreeing to their initial divorce settlement. This agreement can be changed as the financial circumstances of the divorced parents change, but any modification will need to be officially reviewed and signed off on by the court.
If an agreement on college costs cannot be agreed to between the parents, the court can step in and make a ruling on how the costs should be divided. The court will consider several factors when allocating how much each parent will contribute towards a child’s college expenses:
- Financial resources of each parent
- The child’s academic history
- Standard of living the child would have had if the parents had stayed married
- Financial resources of the child
- Any other relevant factors
As always, it is best to plan ahead when it comes to preparing to pay for your child’s college expenses after a divorce. Working with your divorce attorney to prepare for that future expense – whether that involves setting up college savings plans that both parents contribute to or some other future planning – is an important part of any divorce settlement process for couples with school-aged children.
