Parents Obligation To Pay For College
A PARENTS OBLIGATION TO PAY FOR COLLEGE EXPENSES
Before 1976 there was really no basis in Massachusetts statutory law to impose educational costs on a divorced parent after a child reached the age of majority (traditionally 18 years). Then G.L. c. 208, sec. 28 was enacted. The court was now allowed to make orders regarding maintenance, support and education of an “adult dependent child” of divorced parents, provided that the child was at least 18 years old but not yet 21 years old. In 1991, the statute was again amended and it raised the upper age limit to include a child not yet 23 years old. That amendment also provided that said child must be domiciled in the home of a parent and “primarily dependent” upon the parent for maintenance due to enrollment in an undergraduate educational degree program. This statute effectively covers most if not all situations with regard to reimbursment and payment for college tution or other expenses. As there is no statutory mandate for a parent to pay for their child’s college expenses, we use statutory and case law to interpret a parent’s obligation to pay for college. Read the rest of this entry »
