How does BC Post Secondary Education Child Support work in BC and Calgary? Maclean Law’s top rated BC Post Secondary Education Child Support lawyers deal with cases involving adult children who are taking post secondary education. MacLean Law’s BC Post Secondary Education Child Support lawyers have been rated the best family law firm in Vancouver on multiple occasions. We have multiple office in BC and Calgary and you can call us toll free at 1-877-602-9900 to meet with us today.
Cases involving BC Post Secondary Education Child Support involve issues such as:
- The Child’s ability to contribute through working
- RESP’s being used and the impact use of the availability of loans and bursaries
- Money flowing from trusts and support from extended family members being considered
- Differences in cost between a local institution or one in Eastern Canada, The USA or abroad
- What is proper amount when child lives at home as opposed to abroad with higher transportation, housing and exchange rates
Many parents remember working full-time jobs in the summers and part time jobs during the school year to pay their way through University. In the past University was far cheaper and in fairness the competition for jobs may have been less. Today’s modern world often requires a child to take more than one post secondary degree and this can be a source of conflict when substantial Post Secondary Education Child Support is required.
As we will see in today’s blog by Lorne N. MacLean, QC, BC and Calgary courts are generous with ensuring children are properly equipped with postsecondary education to compete in modern society.
So- How does the law work in a Calgary Post Secondary Education Child Support or a BC Post Secondary Education Child Support Case?
In a recent BC Supreme Court decision of Sandy v Sandy the court held post secondary child support was payable based on the following test:
[66] Section 2 of the Divorce Act defines “child of the marriage” as follows:
child of the marriage means a child of two spouses or former spouses who, at the material time,
(a) is under the age of majority and who has not withdrawn from their charge, or
(b) is the age of majority or over and under their charge but unable, by reason of illness, disability or other cause, to withdraw from their charge or to obtain the necessaries of life; (enfant à charge)
[67] The court in Gasparini v. Gasparini, 2014 BCSC 1465 summarized the principles animating post-secondary education’s effect on the status of a child regarding child support at paras. 19, 20, 51. A child pursuing post-secondary education after attaining the age of majority may still be a child of the marriage if there is a valid reason for the child’s continued dependence. Determining the validity of the reason, the court must analyse whether the educational pursuits are reasonable, in the circumstances. If so, then the court must determine whether it is appropriate that the parents be required to finance the education. The child claiming the expenses must provide information of active participation in the program, such as registration, courses and grades obtained.
[68] The Court of Appeal found that a child over the age of majority who is attending full time studies and living at home was sufficient to be a child of the marriage: De Beck v. De Beck, 2012 BCCA 465.
[69] As the Court of Appeal stated in Shaw v. Arndt, 2016 BCCA 78 at paras. 28, 29, 31, estrangement is not necessarily determinative of whether a parent still has an obligation to support a child.
[70] I find that Mick completed courses at TRU, except for the semester when he was ill due to the aneurism, on a full time basis as defined by TRU. Where a university uses the term “full-time” in relation to a specified number of courses, for the purposes of assessing entitlement to financial assistance, the university’s definition has been accepted in this court as full-time for the purposes of qualifying for child support where a reduced course load was necessary for the child to succeed: Moore v. Moore, 2014 BCSC 2210 at para. 109. I find that to be necessary for Mick.
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