Are Parents Required to Pay for College?

Anne B. Bennette, Edmonds Lawyer

The answer: ‘it depends.’

In Washington State, co-parents with dependent children that have entered a Parenting Plan (for example through a divorce, separation or parentage action), will have also entered an Order of Child Support.  Depending on the age of the children at the time of entry, often the issue of post-secondary support is ‘reserved.’  At present, post-secondary support is addressed in Section 18 of the mandatory form Child Support Order. 

‘Reserving’ the issue means that one parent will have to seek post-secondary support on behalf of their children prior to the termination of child support.  However, RCW 26.19.090 provides that post-secondary support is not mandatory.  Accordingly, just because one parent may request post-secondary support, that does not mean that it will be ordered. 

RCW 26.19.090(2) states that: “when considering whether to order support for postsecondary educational expenses, the court shall determine whether the child is in fact dependent and is relying upon the parents for the reasonable necessities of life.” 

The statute further provides that the Court must consider “the age of the child; the child’s needs; the expectations of the parties for their children when the parents were together; the child’s prospects, desires, aptitudes, abilities or disabilities; the nature of the postsecondary education sought; and the parents’ level of education, standard of living, and current and future resources.”

Accordingly, where ‘child support’ is initially determined based on calculations related to the parent’s income, ‘post-secondary support’ is more nuanced and has much more to do with the child’s prospects and desires than it does the parents income.  

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