A recent Appellate Division case reminds us of the potential pitfalls of negotiating contingent issues in property settlement agreements, specifically as it relates to contribution to future college costs of children born of the marriage.
In Zegarski v. Zegarski, the parties had four children, with the two oldest already attending in-state college at the
The Appellate Division’s newly published (precedential) decision in Avelino-Catabran v. Catabran provides another lesson to practitioners and litigants about the language used in settlement agreements and how such language, if unambiguous and without basis to modify, will likely be upheld in matrimonial matters. The specific dispute involved college payments for the parties’ older child and
In the return of our New Jersey Family Law Podcast Series, we are proud to present our fifth installment discussing child support and emancipation. This has been a hot topic in recent months, especially following the Rachel Canning lawsuit from earlier this year. Enjoy!
Listen to the Podcast and download the transcript here.
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Emancipation of a college student – when does it happen? When should it happen? In the wake of the Rachel Canning matter, emancipation is a hot button topic in New Jersey. Generally, the law provides that a child is emancipated when he or she is no longer within the parental “sphere of influence and responsibility.”
The Canning case has dominated the news in New Jersey and points beyond over the last two weeks. You know, the so-called “spoiled teen” that moved out of her parents house, and among other thing, sued to have them pay for college. Robert Epstein has blogged on it several times on this blog. While it
We have written many times on this blog about the dangers of using social media in connection with an ongoing divorce, custody dispute, domestic violence matter, and more. Apparently Rachel Canning, the New Jersey teen suing her parents for financial support and college payments, is not a subscriber to the blog. If she were,
You may have heard about the hot news story that continues to gain traction nationwide where a New Jersey teen sued her parents in the Morris County Superior Court for financial support, private high school tuition, college payments, and attorney fees. It even made the cover of today’s Star Ledger. She is seeking an
It seems with greater frequency, a divorced parent will argue that he should not have to pay for a child’s college (a New Jersey requirement) because he has a poor relationship with the child and, relatedly, had no say in the education decision making process (i.e., what college, at what cost, etc.). Since a parent’s
At the start of the week when most parents who have college students are writing that second semester check (gulp), the Appellate Division has decided a non precedential case in which a father objected to the trial court’s decision to make him pay 27% of his daughter’s college expenses at a private college. The case brings to the forefront situations in which the realities of limited available income come head to head with obligations for college expenses. Throw in a poor relationship between one parent and the college student, and you have a mess.
In the case of Caruso v. Whitlock, the father’s income was such that his basic child support obligation under the child support guidelines had been reduced as a result of the self support reserve. The self support reserve is a calculation in the child support guidelines which ensures that the obligor has sufficient income to maintain a basic subsistence level. So in other words, after child support, the obligor has to have left an amount which is 105% of the US poverty guideline.
The child in this case was enrolled in Rider University, a small private university without input from the father, with whom she did not have a good relationship. Both parents blames the other for the poor relationship. The judge took some testimony from the parties on the issues, but there was not a formal hearing. The daughter preferred a smaller college as opposed to Rutgers, the State University. The father stated that he wanted his daughter to go to college. The child received minimal financial assistance from the college and had some limited assets of her own.
The trial court ordered the father to pay 27% of the net college expenses which was based on the percentages from the child support worksheet that had been used the year before in an application for unreimbursed medical expenses. This came to approximately $6860 per year.
As many parents get ready to send their children off to college, those who are collecting child support from a non custodial parent wonder how their child support may be affected. The New Jersey Child Support Guidelines are applicable when computing child support for children who are less than 18 or more than 18 and attending high school and living at home. What, then, happens to child support when a child leaves for college? The guidelines specifically state that they should not be used to determine parental contributions for college or other post secondary education. As an exception, they may be applied when a child is living at home and commuting to college. Over the years, courts have taken an inconsistent view as to how child support should be calculated for children living away at school. In the recent, published ( precedential) case of Jacoby v. Jacoby, the NJ Appellate Division addressed this issue.
In the Jacoby case, the parties who were divorced had two children. When the oldest matriculated at college, the non-custodial father moved to reduce his child support obligation to Ms. Jacoby since the child no longer resided in his mother’s house. The trial judge granted his application, and reduced the child support by employing a formula in which the judge calculated child support for two children, and then one child. The judge then took the difference of these two sums and determined 38% of the difference and 25% of the calculated remainder These two sums were then added and set as support. Essentially, what the trial court did was to recognize that child support is comprised of three broad categories: fixed costs – those costs that are incurred even when child is not residing at home. An example is housing related expenses; variable costs – those costs which are incurred only when the child is with the parent ( food is an example); and controlled Costs – costs which are incurred by the primary caretaker of the child, such as clothing and entertainment. The court then presumed there was a lower amount of variable and controlled costs when the child was away at college and reduced support accordingly.
When the second child matriculated, Mr. Jacoby again sought a reduction. A different judge heard the application and denied Mr. Jacoby’s request. He then appealed.