Making College Expenses a Priority after Divorce

According to a recent study, divorced parents contribute a significant amount less toward college for their children than parents that remain married. The study was discussed in a Washington Post article, and revealed that divorced parents spend nearly 1/3 less on college expenses than married parents. Obviously this is a huge difference and disadvantage to children of divorce. What can you do as a divorced parent to ensure that college expenses remain a priority?

First, to clarify, Michigan does not require a divorcing couple to have an agreement about college tuition or expenses. In fact, Michigan courts can only make or enforce decisions about your child until the child is 18 or graduates from high school, whichever is later. Thus, college expenses are frequently not addressed in a divorce, especially when the children of the divorcing couple are very young.

However, there are a number of things you can include in your divorce to help pay for college expenses. Of course you and your spouse will have to agree, because absent an agreement, the court will not force you to do it. Some ideas are as follows:

• You can agree as parents to equally share the college expenses incurred by your children, or share them on a percentage basis.
• You can agree to each contribute to a college fund that is held in trust for the children.
• You can formulate an agreement that has one parent paying tuition costs, while the other parent pays books, boarding, etc.

What is especially important, though, in formulating such an agreement to pay college expenses, is to define what college expenses will be paid, particularly:

• Will you pay for in-state or out-of-state tuition?
• Will you only pay if their grade point remains passing or above a certain grade?
• Will you require the student to obtain loans/grants/scholarships first?
• Is this for undergraduate only or post-graduate work?

The lesson is that if college for your children is important to you as you are divorcing, try to work out an agreement with your spouse to make it a priority. Be careful to negotiate exactly what each parent is prepared to provide, and what expectations are required. Also, you must have an attorney review such an agreement, because once it is signed, absent an agreement to change it, the agreement is binding and not subject to modification.

You can read the Washington Post article here: Divorced parents contribute less toward college

If you are interested in learning more about child support, divorce or family law, please call Wendy Alton at 734-665-4441 or email her at walton@psedlaw.com. More information about her firm, Pear Sperling Eggan & Daniels, P.C., can be found here: www.psedlaw.com. 

Judge Tosses Out Prenup: Dodgers ownership still undecided

There is no dispute that the divorce of Frank & Jamie McCourt has been the most publicized divorce this year, particularly since the ownership of the Dodgers will ultimately be determined in the divorce.

It appears that Frank & Jamie McCourt had a prenuptial agreement drawn up, but the testimony revealed that there were different versions of this agreement—one giving the Dodgers to Frank, and one sharing the Dodgers between Frank & Jamie.  The Judge heard testimony for days about this issue, and finally made his decision.

In a 100 page opinion (and yes, that is a very LONG opinion), the Judge tossed out the prenuptial agreements.  The Judge ruled that the evidence showed that Frank & Jamie McCourt never fully agreed on any terms regarding the Dodgers, and that each has a mistaken belief about the alleged differing prenuptial agreements.  The result is that the Dodgers will not be divided pursuant to any prenuptial agreements between Frank & Jamie McCourt.

What does that mean now?  Well, the Judge will eventually have to decide who owns the Dodgers.  Frank McCourt will argue that he bought the Dodgers, that they are owned in his own name, and that the team is his own personal property.  Jamie McCourt will argue that the team was purchased during the marriage and that it is marital property, subject to a 50/50 split.

Lessons to be learned?  If you hire a lawyer to draft a prenuptial agreement—it is probably important to make sure that there is only one version.  Sounds easy, right?  I would assume so—but doesn’t seem that way for the McCourts.

You can read about the Judge’s decision here: Judge invalidates McCourt agreement, leaving Dodgers ownership in question

If you are interested in learning more, please call Wendy Alton at 734-665-4441 or email her at walton@psedlaw.com. More information about her firm, Pear Sperling Eggan & Daniels, P.C., can be found here: www.psedlaw.com.
 

What happens if Mediation fails?

It looks like the judge will have to decide the fate of the Dodgers after all.  While Frank & Jamie McCourt are waiting for the judge’s ruling in their divorce case, they agreed to meet again with a mediator to see if they could settle their differences.

After lengthy mediation sessions, the mediator submitted a proposed divorce settlement to both Frank & Jamie McCourt, and they had until noon on Tuesday, November 30, 2010, to either accept the settlement or reject it.  Frank McCourt accepted the proposal, but Jamie rejected it.

While it is true that many divorce cases can settle during mediation, it is also true that some do not.  In Michigan, people going through a divorce will often be required to go to mediation during their case.  However, the mediator cannot force a settlement.  The mediator can only try to assist both people in coming to a mutual agreement on their issues.  If no agreement is reached, mediation is concluded and the case continues.

Sometimes this means that the case will continue to trial.  Often, though, the case will still settle privately, as a good mediator will assist each person in seeing both sides of the issue, and also assist them in understanding how their judge will see the issues.

As far as the Dodgers go, this appears to be the last chance for any type of private settlement, as both Frank and Jamie McCourt have dug in their heels.  Even though Frank accepted the mediator’s proposal, the proposal is not final unless both of them accept it.  Jamie McCourt appears to want the judge to make the final decision, and that should be expected within the next couple of months.

You can read the LA Times article here:  Jamie McCourt rejects divorce settlement proposal. 

If you are interested in learning more, please call Wendy Alton at 734-665-4441 or email her at walton@psedlaw.com. More information about her firm, Pear Sperling Eggan & Daniels, P.C., can be found here: www.psedlaw.com.