TOP THREE WAYS TO SPLIT COLLEGE COSTS IN A DIVORCE:
Filing for divorce when you have children encompasses a lot of issues. Figuring out child support, alimony, division of assets, and parenting plans are just some of the many issues that are challenging in and of itself! What happens when you have a child(ren) that intend to go to college? How do you decide who pays what? Does that have to be figured out too in the divorce agreement even if your children are young and college is far off in the distance?
HERE ARE THREE WAYS TO SPLIT COLLEGE COSTS IN A DIVORCE AGREEMENT:
1. BOILERPLATE LANGUAGE: Attorneys call standard legal language in documents “boilerplate” when the document can be used for any situation and is a fill-in-the-blank form which fluctuates depending on the circumstances. The MA trial courts recently released a boilerplate Separation Agreement that is a great place to start when you want to work on your divorce agreement without having an attorney draft it for you, or when you want to take the reins. The Court’s Separation Agreement sample Exhibit J provides basic boilerplate language regarding education where you can hypothetically insert language as simple as “The parties shall communicate and attempt to agree upon payment of college related expenses in each child’s junior year of high school…” You can download this here: https://www.mass.gov/doc/sample-separation-agreement/download
2. SITUATION SPECIFIC DIVORCE LANGUAGE: Typically, a Separation Agreement is not a “one size fits all” agreement, as it is personalized for each and every situation to encompass the spirit of a couple’s divorce. If a couple divorces and wants to discuss financials with their ex-spouse as little as possible for the rest of their lives, then it is imperative to add in at least basic college division language between spouses. A lot of Courts will use the full cost of UMass Amherst as a number to work off of, such as by saying, hypothetically, “The amount of money that you will pay jointly will include but not be limited to: room and board, books, food, and other necessary expenses, like a food card, etc.”
3. SPECIFIC PERSONAL DIVORCE LANGUAGE: Even though your child(ren) may be little, inserting specific language to provide for college is very wise when you want little to do with your ex-spouse in the future. Perhaps you can prepare the percentages that will be paid by each partner depending on your current financial situation, where the money will come from, and how it will be he biggest takeaway in regard to dividing the cost of college is to provide for an exhibit for education in your divorce agreement and include college within that exhibit. It is important that you put in your agreement an exhibit for Education which includes, but is not limited to, grade school, college, grad school, and any additional school that is attended. If you add in this information, you will be saving yourself from returning to mediation or litigation and spending money that could have been used for your child(ren)’s education.
Take it from Ferris Bueller:
“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while you could miss it.”
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