Indiana Post-Secondary Education

[martybob]

Indiana state law mandates that divorced parents can be ordered to pay for the childs college education. My daughter lived with me and I had joint custody with my ex and all was well until I met and married someone else. At that point my daughter decided she wanted to live with her mother who she did not want to live with originally due to her mom's new lifestyle choice. I agreed to let her live with her mother against my better judgement with the understanding that we still share joint custody. However, upon my ex filing the papers to change custody & support my ex "accidentally" left out the word "physical" custody and therefore I no longer had any rights to any real decisions for my daughter. I filed to have this modified and to have child support changed as I was no longer able to work and I also asked the Court to determine my responsibility for college. I was in the process of getting my disabled vet status which would have allowed my daughter possibly to received fully paid in-state tuition. By the time we finally got to Court my ex had enrolled my daughter in an 18 month culinary school out of state which was well beyond my means. The Court ordered me to pay 1/3 of an in-state tuition and I would have been happy to pay my daughter for the college tuition and/or pay 1/3 of the loans which I may have been able to manage. However, the Court ordered post-secondary expenses (College) to be paid to my ex who took out a PLUS loan for my daughter. Next provision was that my daughter was to provide most recent grade reports within 10 days and maintain a 2.0 GPA. I did not receive the grades within 10 days and she did not have a 2.0 GPA the 1st Semester and dropped/withdrew and retook classes to attempt to increase her GPA to 2.0 or neither parent owed for college. I have all the supporting documentation of when I actually did receive grades sent by my ex even though the court ordered my daughter to do so. Did I still need to pay my ex? It is 4 1/2 yrs. later & my daughter has not graduated from the original 18 mo. program. I did not receive the last few semesters grades which I am understanding that she failed the required mandatory classes. My ex has file a contempt charge and a civil case to obtain the money but I understood the judge at the original hearing to explain that if I didn't get the grade reports I would not owe the money. This was obviously stated in his Court order. Can you advise?

What *exactly* does your court order say in regard to paying for post-secondary education?

Both sides have to make good faith efforts to comply but if you did not get what was required to be given per the order...you need not pay.

You do have to try to communicate on the issue normally.

ie you cannot avoid payment on a technicality...the judge will see through that!

[martybob]

Originally Posted by Unregistered Both sides have to make good faith efforts to comply but if you did not get what was required to be given per the order...you need not pay. You do have to try to communicate on the issue normally.

Thanks for your reply. Unfortunately it is impossible to communicate with my ex in this matter. She hung up on me after calling and demanding the money and when I informed her that they did not comply with the court order which the judge explicitly emphasized to her at the hearing she hung up on me. When I attempted to call back after giving her time to cool down she never answered my calls. We haven't heard anything about it or from her until now which is 4 1/2 years later and totally out of the blue we get served with contempt & notice to appear. My ex could not or would not provide the grade reports when we went to court and the judge was not happy about it and that I was never given copies of the grades. That is why he (the judge) put in the "technicality" about receiving the grades within 10 days. As I stated, she did not have a 2.0 GPA the first semester and had she provided those records when we went to court he (the judge) may not have made the order to repay my ex for the PLUS Loans she took upon herself to take out. To this date we still have not received her last 2 or 3 semesters of grades where she attempted to retake a class or two that she continually failed or dropped. I would assume that her GPA cannot be 2.0 or better and she has not nor plans to continue to take the class to get her diploma. Thanks again for you post.

[martybob]

Originally Posted by Unregistered What *exactly* does your court order say in regard to paying for post-secondary education?

The order states that my ex took out a PLUS Loan for a portion of the tuition and I am to repay her $8,255.00 within 60 days unless we agree otherwise. The following paragraph states what the judge explicitly told my ex in court, "The court orders (his daughter) to maintain a GPA of 2.0 on a 4.0 scale and provide both parents with a copy of her grades within 10 days of receipt. If she fails to do so, neither parent is required to pay for her educational expenses. If this order is entered more than 10 days after (his daughter) has received her most recent grades, then she shall have 10 days to provide the grades to her parents." This was ordered on March 9, 2005. She had two prior sets of grades and the current semester was yet to end at that time. Therefore she should have sent the first two sets of grades (which show that she had a 1.78 GPA the first semester & was on academic probation and that she had dropped/withdrawn from & retaken classes to get her second semester grades to a 2.44 GPA.) within 10 days of the court order and did not do so. When I eventually received some grade reports they were sent by my ex even though the court stated it was my daughters responsibility.

[130smartchick]

From what I'm reading (and of course I am going by what I am given) then your daughter did not meet her requirements and SHE is responsible for paying for what education she got, not you or your ex.

[martybob]

Originally Posted by 130smartchick From what I'm reading (and of course I am going by what I am given) then your daughter did not meet her requirements and SHE is responsible for paying for what education she got, not you or your ex.

Thank you for your post. Unfortunately I agree with you and I'm afraid it is my ex's intention to take me to court to have me fight her battle with our daughter and therefore I, as always, come out to look like the bad guy. If the judge acknowledges that my daughter is responsible for the college then my ex will have grounds to go after my daughter for what loans she obtained. I believe she did my daughter a terrible disservice by encouraging her to attend a private culinary school that was well beyond her financial, emotional and educational means. I am in a no-win situation because either way my ex comes out smelling like a rose and can blame me and/or the judge for putting that debt on my daughter. My daughter has had issues when it comes to education and had special assistance throughout high school and as for her emotional state she has always been very immature. My ex has exploited that throughout our marraige and especially when it came to attending this school. I feel as if her mother should be responsible for the debt she took on in my daughter's behalf however I understand the court's ruling.