Is University Tuition a Part of Vancouver Child Support?

Us Vancouver Child Support Lawyers are often asked about children’s university tuition and whether it is a part of Vancouver child support when the parents are separated. University tuition and expenses can be very burdensome and financially difficult on parents. Most parents would help their children any way then can. But sometimes it is just not possible to cover all expenses.

After all, university tuitions rates have been on the rise and parents may have different views on who should pay for them. Whether you should or should not pay for university tuition as a part of child support depends on many factors. There is no straight answer.  Read below to familiarize yourself with your chances, rights and options below:

Are University Expenses A Part of Vancouver Child Support?

University tuition and expenses fall in one of the two categories of Vancouver child support: 1) the child support table amount which is the monthly amount of child support you must pay to cover day to day expenses like food and shelter for your child and 2) special or extraordinary expenses which cover university tuition fees, nanny costs, medical and dental expenses and extracurricular expenses.

To determine the monthly Table amount, all you have to do is plug in your income from all sources and the amount of time you spend with you child to determine the monthly amount:

1. If the other parent has primary residence with your children or has them in his/her care more than 60% of the time, only your income will matter in determining child support.
2. If you and the other parent share the children, meaning each of you has the children in your care more than 40% of the time, your incomes get set off against one another and the monthly child support amount is determined.

To calculate monthly Table child support, click here. Note though, this program is a simple program that only considers employment income. If you have corporations or a business, you need to consult with a Vancouver child support lawyer to determine the appropriate income and to calculate child support based on that. 

But for university expenses, a different formula is used because these expenses fall under the second category or Special and Extraordinary expenses. Let’s look at who should pay for university tuition expenses:

How to Calculate Your Share of University Expenses

To calculate your share of university expenses under the special and extraordinary category of Vancouver child support, you need to look at the following factors: 1) How much is your income and how much is the other parent’s income? 2) how old is your child and is he/she able to pay for some of these expenses? and 3) do you or the other parent have the ability to pay such expenses? Let’s look at each factor and how it comes to play:

Incomes of Parents and Sharing University Tuition

Regardless of who the children live with, sharing university tuition depends on the proportionality of the incomes. This means that if you earn $50,000 per year and the other parent earns $100,000, regardless of who the children live with, you will pay 33% of the university expense and the other parent will need to pay 67%. Wait, this ratio could change depending on your child: 

Can Your Child Contribute to His/Her Own University Expenses?

Children who are over 19 are expected to work part time or obtain some grants or student loans to help them with their education. So if your child is going to university and also working, some of his or her pay may be considered as his/her own contribution towards his/her expenses. Whatever other money is needed will normally be split between the parents depending on their income.

So for example, if your child earns $10,000 a year and is going to university, the court may take $3000 to $5000 of that as the child’s contribution towards his/her university expenses and then ask the parents to cover the rest. Please note you cannot ask that your child pays for all of his/her living expenses and university tuition and other expenses by their entire earnings. The courts have said that children are entitled to some fruits of their labour so some of the money they earn may simply go to the children’s need to enjoy their lives, go shopping, drinking, do sport activities etc and use their money in a way that suites them.

Ability to Pay for University or Extraordinary Expenses

If the parents earn a reasonable incomes, they are expected to cover expenses beyond what their children can contribute to. But if the parents do not earn more than minimum wage, then the court may not compel them to pay thousands of dollars a year towards university tuition or the child’s extraordinary expenses. 

On the other hand, if the parents are earning let’s say over $200,000 per year, the court may excluded everything the child earns and compel the parents to pay for the full university tuition and other expenses. It all depends on the big picture: the standard of living the parents and the children can provide and their ability to pay for it.

Everything I said above is either written in the Federal Child Support Guidelines or supported by previous case law. But note:

Each case for Vancouver child support and university expenses is individually assessed so you won’t find your exact answer by reading Google articles. It is best to consult with a Vancouver child support lawyer to know exactly what your right and obligations are when it comes to paying for your children’s tuition and other university expenses. Call us at 604-974-9529 or email [email protected] to set up an initial consultation.