modification for private school

[buzz2400]

What is the name of your state? CT.
My brother-in-law is being taken back to court for modification of child support because the ex-wife wants their son to attend a catholic high school. She has taken him back many times for modification and the court seems to rule in her favor. He is very upset because it will be a hardship if he has to pay any more money to her. Some details: ex-wife is a little crazy, son always attended public school, they are not religious, public school system he could go to is very good, nothing written in divorce papers about private schooling. Should my brother-in-law obtain counsel or will the court most likely rule in his favor?

 

[nextwife]

What is the name of your state? CT.
My brother-in-law is being taken back to court for modification of child support because the ex-wife wants their son to attend a catholic high school. ...... son always attended public school, they are not religious, public school system he could go to is very good, nothing written in divorce papers about private schooling.

Too much money is at stake to take a chance, although there is no precident of prior private school attendance for her to use to make a case for the child not using the public school. I'd still recommend he use an attorney.

 

[stealth2]

Is it safe to assume that he hasn't used an attorney in the past?

 

[rmet4nzkx]

What do you mean by," ex-wife is a little crazy"?

Does this child have any behavioral or scholastic problems, is the school known for any special programs, reasons for this change in schooling? Many non religious families sent their children to Catholic schools, some are difficult to enter, I know of one where people move from all over the country to attend because of some of it's excellent programs.

What is in the best interest of the child?

Here is the kicker, if the ex seems to get anything she asks of the judge, she will probably get it. Looking ahead, CT is one of the states that have post majority CS laws for education, so you husband is likely to find himself dealing with more than private school down the line.

"PA 02-128, which went into effect October 1, 2002, permits judges and family support magistrates to order parents to support their children enrolled in accredited post-secondary schools for up to four full academic years and until they reach age 23."

Now this affects orders on or since 10-1-2, so it may or may not affect the child, but it might also be a bargining point if say for instance the child wants help with college but doesn't technically qualify for post secondary support. If that is the case, your husband might say exchange what the cost of the private HS might be now and apply that towards post secondary education in exchange for the child attending public HS with qualifying stipulations such as a GPA 3.0 and above, no other trouble, part time employment, applying for scholarships, in other words it wouldn't pay for everything, it would help with college expenses and the child would still have to be a responsible adult at the same time. Planning for that 4 years in advance helps instill responsibility and time to improve grades and apply for scholarships and summer jobs.

If the order was made on or after 10-1-2, hold your breath. But this might be a way to do something in the childs best interest that spreads out the financial impact. The ex would have less control over an adult child.

 

[buzz2400]

the question was does my husband have to pay for a private school for his son to go to high school
they have joint custody and he was never informed about this decision that the mother and son made in oct 2003 until may 2004 from the son who said mom has tuition under control
there is another son who is 20
the two kids have lived with mom then dad then mom
they did have a joint attorney in the past who did not want to deal with the case anymore
the child is an average student who does well a b and c
we compared the two school for academics and percentage of children going to college everything is very comparable
how do you find out if your state makes you pay for private school divorce was in 1998

 

[rmet4nzkx]

If the bio mom is asking for a modification of CS to cover private school, it is up to the judge to decide, if there is no change made she can still use the CS to pay towards tuition, nothing prevents her from doing that.

I gave you the other info as that may also play a role, cover all bases. What is the status with the 20 year old son?

 

[LdiJ]

the question was does my husband have to pay for a private school for his son to go to high school
they have joint custody and he was never informed about this decision that the mother and son made in oct 2003 until may 2004 from the son who said mom has tuition under control
there is another son who is 20
the two kids have lived with mom then dad then mom
they did have a joint attorney in the past who did not want to deal with the case anymore
the child is an average student who does well a b and c
we compared the two school for academics and percentage of children going to college everything is very comparable
how do you find out if your state makes you pay for private school divorce was in 1998

Realistically my observations have been that judges will not hold an ncp responsible for private school tuition if the ncp is opposed to the child attending private school and there is no historical precendent of the child attending private school. However, if your income has increased since the last child support review, its possible that your support could increase anyway.

 

[stealth2]

the question was does my husband have to pay for a private school for his son to go to high school

Actually, that wasn't the question you asked. You asked:

Should my brother-in-law obtain counsel or will the court most likely rule in his favor?

Noone can tell you what the court would rule. There are so many variables in any sort of modification that it's impossible to predict. The reason I asked whether he had an attorney for his previous forays to court is because you said he hadn't had any success. If he's been doing it on his own, then he'd be foolish to keep trying to deal with it w/o counsel.

 

[haiku]

so are you the in-law or the wife or both? LOL

 

[rmet4nzkx]

Quote:
Originally Posted by buzz2400
the question was does my husband have to pay for a private school for his son to go to high school

Actually, that wasn't the question you asked. You asked:

Quote:
Originally Posted by buzz2400
Should my brother-in-law obtain counsel or will the court most likely rule in his favor?

Good call Stealth2, interesting how it morphed from brother-in-law to husband!