Who Pays for College After Separation or Divorce?

 Posted on April 14, 2020 in Uncategorized

Under Illinois law college costs are addressed under Section 513 of the statute. That Section states that the court will look at the situation, the parties, each party’s respective income and their ability to pay. So if one party’s income is drastically higher than the others, they’ll likely have to pay a higher amount of the college costs.

The court will also look at the child’s ability to pay. It’s not uncommon for a court to essentially look at the parties and say one third, one third, one third, but if there are savings accounts that can be used first that were set up and designated for the child for college, all that will be taken into account. But, typically college expenses are not designated at the time of the divorce because it’s an issue that’s in the future and the statute recognizes that and anticipates that the parties’ situation at the time when college education costs become reality is the appropriate time to examine the parties’ abilities to pay.