parenting

Divorce and Your Graduate Student

Posted on by kscheerer

Does your daughter dream about going to medical school? Does your son envision becoming a lawyer? You may know that divorced parents can be responsible for college costs—but what about the costs of graduate school?

 The Indiana Supreme Court recently ruled that divorced parents cannot be forced to contribute to their child’s graduate-school expenses. In Allen v. Allen, divorced parents agreed that the father would be responsible for their daughter’s educational expenses. When that daughter decided to go to dental school, the father asked the Court to order the mother to contribute to the daughter’s dental-school expenses.  The Supreme Court rejected that request:

[I]ndiana is one of the few states that have a statute providing for educational expenses once a child has reached the age of majority. Most states have no law requiring divorced parents provide college expenses, and of the states that do, the majority limit payment of the expenses to a certain age.

 

“We also note that married parents have no legal obligation to pay for their children’s educational expenses beyond high school, let alone graduate school expenses,” [Justice] David wrote.

 

He ended by noting that divorced parents can still agree to pay a portion or all of their child’s graduate expenses, and that agreement can be enforceable by the court.

Even though a court cannot force parents to pay for graduate school, other issues regarding elementary, secondary, and college expenses often arise in the divorce process. The attorneys at Ruppert & Schaefer, P.C. have experience dealing with these issues and are available to discuss them with you. To make an appointment with one of our attorneys, call (317) 580-9295.

 

Nesting – What is it?

Posted on by kscheerer

nestingIf you and your spouse are considering divorce, you will soon face many important decisions. If you have children, one of the most important decisions will be who will live where, and with whom. You may also have to decide where one or both parents will exercise their parenting time.

These days, there are plenty of options when it comes to living arrangements during and after divorce.  One such arrangement that has been in the news lately is called “nesting” (sometimes referred to as “bird’s nest” custody or visitation).  A recent contributor to the Huffington Post described his experience with nesting this way:

Here’s how it works: whichever one of us has our son stays at the house with him. The other spends their time at an apartment within our multi-family property. Our son always stays at “his” house. My ex and I both have our own bedrooms at the family house and at our apartment. On holidays and on certain occasions we all will sleep at the house. The apartment is adults only and we are never both at the apartment at the same time. Our son has been to the apartment to check it out and so he knows where we are when we say, “mom is at the apartment.”

As the author goes on to note, nesting may not be for everyone, but it works for his family. The attorneys at Ruppert & Schaefer, P.C. are available to discuss what might be best for your family both during and after a divorce. To make an appointment with one of our attorneys, call (317) 580-9295.