Child support and college

[SusieQ]

When my husband and I divorced two years ago, we tabled the decision about child support and college assistance for our youngest son.  I was advised that I could not get child support or college help for our oldest son who was 19 at the time.  Our youngest was 13.  He is now 16, and I want my ex to pay for his car insurance and one third of his college expenses.  He is providing absolutely nothing for our oldest son.  I have not enforced the garnishment clause in our decree for child support, but I am going to have to since he is $2000 behind. 

My question is, can I get my ex to pay for a portion of the expenses for our youngest equal to the ratio of his salary to mine?  Can I get my ex to provide the car insurance?  Is it worth it to go back to my attorney and fork over $1500 more to attempt to get this decreed?

[m_t]

I don't know the answer to your question, but CollegeDad or Lee likely would. Just hang tight.

[TC]

It is unfortunate that you did not address this during the initial divorce hearings.  This should have been decided then and frankly, I am a bit surprised the Court allowed you to move forward without doing so.

Normally, Child Support arrangements are reviewed when there is a significant change in circumstances or every three years as a general rule.  However, there is nothing to prevent you from going back to court asking for a Modification to Child Support Arrangement and see what the Court will do.

I would strongly recommend you get an attorney if you are going to take this approach, especially in light of the fact that the ex is already in arrears....I'm just not sure how the Court will view your request at this point in time.

Not much help I know, but the best I got.  As MT says, hopefully Lee or CollegeDad will come along and give a better view.

TC

[CollegeDad]

Yeah, go ahead and pursue enforcement of child support immediately.  If your son just turned 16 and you file right away, you will receive child support for your son until he turns age 19.  The child support will continue while your son is in college if he starts before he turns 19 years of age.  You can ask for the $2000.00 dollars that your ex is behind on but if you have not notified the court prior to now, you are not likely to be awarded any of it.  I know that doesn't make sense but it was my experience and a lot of others that I've seen.  That said, you will be able to receive everything that you are entitled to from the date that you file.  That is why it is important that you file ASAP!!!

Child support is separate and apart from college support.  Once your son becomes age 19 in the state of Alabama, child support ends.  Now this is very important.  Unless your ex allowed you to include a simple clause in your divorce decree stating that you will split college expenses for your youngest son, he is not obligated to pay anything in the state of Alabama. 

If that turns out to be the case then I would probably do as much as I could to push as many expenses over to my ex as possible before my son turns 19.  For example, if your ex can carry your son on his auto insurance policy and his health insurance plan, that will be expenses that you don't have to carry.  If your ex is willing to provide him a car and keep it maintained that will be a big help.  If your ex lives near a college that your son might be able to attend, then talk to him about allowing your son to live with him while he attends college. 

Also, now is the time, if your son has an interest in attending college, to begin preparing for the ACT exam.  A good score on the ACT and good grades in high school can partially or completely pay for your son's tuition.  Just by practiciing the ACT with a stop watch, your son may be able to cover a huge part of his college expenses.  There are plenty of resource materials out there with lots of practice exams.  He needs to start working on this immediately if he hasn't already.  Make a game of it and reward him when he improves.  If he can score a 27.5 or better on the ACT and if he has good high school grade point average he will receive a partial scholarship, a lot of times with room and board thrown in, at some of the best Universities in the state. If he scores a 30 or better he will get a full ride at Alabama and many of the other schools in the state.

If Dad is not going to be able to help, your son does have other options. 

Also, your son needs to take as many advanced placement classes as possible.  Normally the cost of the exam for college credit at the end of an advanced placement course is about 80 dollars.  That is the least expensive college credit that I am aware that a child can get.  These credits add up and move a child forward when they enter college.  If your son is interested in math, then he can enter college with one or more of these math classes already finished.  Thoses are credits that you don't have to pay for at the University rate.

Finally, if your son is not able to get one of the scholarship awards out there, and you are stuck footing the whole bill, then let him take his first couple of years at a community college and then transfer those credits to a 4-year University.  The cost of tuition at many of the community colleges is about half what some of the bigger schools charge and the credits count just the same.  You can check around and verify which credits directly transfer to which schools.  I believe you'll be surprised.  If your son does well in college he may qualify for any number of supplemental scholarship programs out there.  The financial office of each University helps students find these programs.  Every little bit helps.

There is no reason that a student with the aptitude and the desire to go to college can't go in the state of Alabama. 

If you and your ex do have a clause saying that you'll split college expenses, then yes, auto insurance and auto maintenance are part of those expenses that you can split along with a number of others.  I'll elaborate more if this is the case in your situation. 

Let me know.

[m_t]

Also, now is the time, if your son has an interest in attending college, to begin preparing for the ACT exam.  A good score on the ACT and good grades in high school can partially or completely pay for your son's tuition.  Just by practiciing the ACT with a stop watch, your son may be able to cover a huge part of his college expenses.  There are plenty of resource materials out there with lots of practice exams.  He needs to start working on this immediately if he hasn't already.  Make a game of it and reward him when he improves.  If he can score a 27.5 or better on the ACT and if he has good high school grade point average he will receive a partial scholarship, a lot of times with room and board thrown in, at some of the best Universities in the state. If he scores a 30 or better he will get a full ride at Alabama and many of the other schools in the state.

Just a few notes as I'm going through this process with my senior at the moment (albeit not in Alabama). Not all schools accept the ACT - they may prefer the SAT. Also, those schools that DO accept the ACT may or may not require the writing portion - most of the better schools do. Your son should also speak with his guidance counselor about which of the two tests he'd likely do better on - different types of learners do better in one or the other (although some kids do well on both).

Also, your son needs to take as many advanced placement classes as possible.  Normally the cost of the exam for college credit at the end of an advanced placement course is about 80 dollars.  That is the least expensive college credit that I am aware that a child can get.  These credits add up and move a child forward when they enter college.  If your son is interested in math, then he can enter college with one or more of these math classes already finished.  Thoses are credits that you don't have to pay for at the University rate.

APs are definitely a great way to get a jump on college credits - IF the college your son goes to accepts them and he scores well enough. Many of the upper tier schools are very limited in which and how many APs they'll accept (and/or may still require a placement test). But even if he goes to a school that won't accept many of those credits, the classes will give him a good taste of what a college course is like.

Now, from people I have spoken with, even though the AP classes are rigorous and require a lot of hard work, they are not really equivalent to a class at a good college. My son is taking a full load of them, but I am encouraging him to be very cautious about using those credits for any classes in his chosen major.

Lastly on APs, make sure that your son is capable of the work required of these classes. They are not a walk in the park, and even a bright kid is likely to find him/herself truly challenged by them.

Finally, if your son is not able to get one of the scholarship awards out there, and you are stuck footing the whole bill, then let him take his first couple of years at a community college and then transfer those credits to a 4-year University.  The cost of tuition at many of the community colleges is about half what some of the bigger schools charge and the credits count just the same.  You can check around and verify which credits directly transfer to which schools.  I believe you'll be surprised.  If your son does well in college he may qualify for any number of supplemental scholarship programs out there.  The financial office of each University helps students find these programs.  Every little bit helps.

Again, coming from a perspective in a different state - not all colleges will accept credits from a community college. So, if he chooses to go that route, he should know up front what his options would be in terms of a 4-year college. I know kids who've done their core courses at CCs, only to discover that the majority of their chosen 4-years wouldn't accept the credits, so they'd not only wasted the money, but also two years. Just make sure to get educated.

[CollegeDad]

All true m_t.  Excellent refinement of what I provided.  The short cut for a kid that is likely to stay in Alabama is to focus on the ACT without the written.  It is accepted by most of the big name schools in Alabama.  But, if you are thinking the big name schools across the country, you'll definitely need to consider SAT and the written portion as well. 

The value of the AP classes is definitely going to depend on the school where they are offered.  As stated, there is a benefit for taking an AP class whether college credit is obtained or not.  Also, normally a chlid that receives a grade of 'A' in an AP class receives 5 points toward their grade point average and a child's grade point is part of the scholarship consideration in addition to the SAT/ACT test score.  The more classes that a child can take that will offer them more than 4 points toward their grade point average, the more likely they will have a GPA of 4 or possibly even higher. 

[m_t]

Wow - ACT w/o the written portion? That really does surprise me, based on what I've seen. But hey - different strokes!

AP classes - very true. The weight may also depend on the school - in our district, regular classes are worth 4 points, Honors classes are 5 points, AP classes are worth 6. However, a lot of colleges don't consider a weighted GPA. It can be very confusing!

The long and the short of it, however, is the better a kid does - on SAT/ACTs and on grades, and the more rigorous classes s/he takes - the more opportunities there will be. Both in terms of acceptances and financial aid/scholarships.

And apart from that, IMO, as long as a kid is challenged and enjoys learning, then s/he will have plenty of options. Education is one thing no one can take from you.