How a Child’s Education Is Impacted By a High Asset Divorce in Texas

 Posted on March 13, 2020 in Child Support

If you are planning for a high net worth divorce in Texas and have children from your marriage, you are probably worrying about how they will fare emotionally. Generally speaking, children from higher-income households tend to do better in school and tend to have more educational opportunities. However, according to a recent study, a family’s income level might not be a deciding factor when a child’s parents get divorced. To be sure, parental divorce, often regardless of the parents’ income level, leads kids to have a lower grade point average and to struggle, at least in the short term, in school.

Whether you have questions about high net worth divorce in Austin, TX generally or specific questions about kids in an Austin divorce, a Texas high asset divorce lawyer at our firm can help.

Your Child’s Education May Suffer Temporarily Due to Divorce

According to the recent study, children and adolescents with divorced or separated parents do less well in school than adolescents with non-divorced parents. Indeed, at least in the short term, teens with recently divorced parents had a GPA that was lower by 0.3 points, on average, than kids with non-divorced parents. Yet it is important to remember that these effects usually are limited, and as long as parents commit to their child’s education, a GPA can bounce back.

Speaking of your child’s education after the divorce, if your children were enrolled in an expensive private school for a number of years prior to the divorce, can a Texas court require one or both of the parents to continue contributing additional educational expenses to pay for the private school? For example, if your child attends a private school that has tuition of approximately $30,000 per year, can that amount be added into the child support obligation?

Private School Educational Expenses in a Texas High Asset Divorce

Under Texas child support law, courts will not add an additional amount to the child support obligation in a high asset divorce simply because the child or children had been attending an expensive private school. Of course, if the parents reach this agreement on their own, a Texas court certainly will not prevent one or both of the parents from contributing to a private school education in addition to the child support obligation. However, without an additional agreement between the parents, the court will simply use the percentage guidelines for determining the child support amount (i.e., 20 percent of the obligor parent’s income for one child, 25 percent of the obligor parent’s income for two children, and so on).

What about college expenses? There is nothing specific in Texas law about college expenses being part of the child support obligation. Accordingly, a court will not order one of the parents to pay an adult child’s college expenses. However, if there is a prior agreement in place that is legally enforceable, then one or both parents may be required to contribute to a child’s college expenses.

Contact a High Asset Divorce Lawyer in Texas

When you have minor children from your marriage and are planning for a high net worth divorce, you should speak with an aggressive Austin high asset divorce attorney about your case. Beyond child support issues and child education, a dedication complex child custody attorney at our firm can answer your questions, or complex litigation attorney at Powers Kerr & Rashidi, PLLC can help. Contact Powers Kerr & Rashidi, PLLC online or call our firm at 512-610-6199.

Source:

https://phys.org/news/2020-03-divorced-parents-impact-teens-academics.html