School fees – who should pay?

Children have now returned to school following the summer holidays, some of whom will attend fee paying schools. Following divorce or separation, there may be an issue as to who should pay these fees. Hopefully, this short article will assist

In respect of general child maintenance, the Child Maintenance Service will assess the appropriate figure but this does not include any additional costs such as school fees. The divorce court can still make orders in respect of school fees. However, the court will not necessarily make such an order just because one parent would like a child to be privately educated. Usually, a court will be expecting that a child is already in a fee paying school before looking to make an order that one parent should continue, or start, paying those fees, or that the parents, prior to separation had agreed the child would be privately educated. It may be an older sibling was privately educated so the younger ones should be too. However, private education is considered a luxury and will probably be the first thing that has to go when organising the finances of a family where the income now has to finance two households instead of one

If the court decides it is appropriate to make an order requiring a parent to pay school fees, the order will usually provide that parent pays an amount monthly, or a lump sum each term, and usually directly to the school. These orders are open to being varied should the means of the paying parent change, eg, they become unemployed

There are separate arrangements for parents who are not married

If you would like a more detailed discussion about your personal situation, don’t hesitate to contact me