Education and Day Care Issues in Divorce

When it comes to education and day care, the questions among divorcing couples are often: “Who decides?” and “Who pays?” – what comes as a surprise to many divorcing couples is that college costs can become a concern of the court, even if the children are over 18 years of age. 

Who decides?

Any couple with children under 18 getting a divorce in Washington must file a parenting plan. The plan has two parts: “residential time” (note the child-friendly language inherent in these terms) and “decision making.” Notwithstanding the details of the residential schedule, parents will often participate jointly in decision-making in areas such as education, religious upbringing, or medical treatment. However, there are instances when the court will order sole decision-making authority to one parent. The court may make such an order when the parents have a history of not getting along and where the court determines only one parent should make the decisions. It is possible that authority is split, with one parent making educational decisions and the other making health care decisions, for example.

In this context, divorcing parents would probably benefit from working together through mediation to develop a parenting plan that works best for them and for their children, rather than expecting the court to make these decisions on everyone’s behalf.

Who pays?

Washington law provides that day care and tuition is paid in addition to what is required by the child support schedule and “shall be shared by the parents in the same proportion as the basic child support obligation.” This means the higher earner pays more, even if that higher earner does not have decision-making authority as determined by the parenting plan. 

College costs

Many parents are surprised to discover that while they are married there is no obligation to provide for college expenses for their post-majority children, but that the obligation does arise when the parents are divorced. Washington law provides:

“The court shall exercise its discretion when determining whether and for how long to award post secondary educational support based upon consideration of factors that include but are not limited to the following: Age of the child; the child’s needs; the expectations of the parties for their children when the parents were together; the child’s prospects, desires, aptitudes, abilities or disabilities; the nature of the postsecondary education sought; and the parents’ level of education, standard of living, and current and future resources. Also to be considered are the amount and type of support that the child would have been afforded if the parents had stayed together.”

The “child” here is between the ages of 18 and 23. However, this is not a free ride for the young person, as:

“The child must enroll in an accredited academic or vocational school, must be actively pursuing a course of study commensurate with thechild’s vocational goals, and must be in good academic standing as defined by the institution. The court-ordered postsecondary educational support shall be automatically suspended during the period or periods the child fails to comply with these conditions.”

“The child shall also make available all academic records and grades to both parents as a condition of receiving postsecondary educational support.”  

There are many considerations regarding post-secondary education that should be included in the divorce judgment, even if the children are young and all the facts are not yet known. This is one area where a do-it-yourself divorce should not be contemplated. An experienced family law attorney can advise you of the language that should be included in the final decree.