There are many parental rights and responsibilities that parents have to share after ending a relationship in New York. Both divorce and separations can lead to shared custody arrangements.Typically, parents divide both time with their children, and the authority to make decisions about their lives. Parents may also have to share financial responsibility for their children.
Child support payments can help cover housing costs, grocery bills and other necessary expenses for a child. When a young adult begins high school, the time might come to start thinking about college and how to finance tuition and other expenses. Can the child support that a parent pays help to cover college costs?
Child support may last well after graduation
In some states, child support automatically ends as soon as a teenager turns 18 or graduates high school. New York has a more holistic approach to child support. Most 18-year-olds are not yet ready to live independently. They may continue living at home for years, especially if they go to college.
In New York, it is standard practice for child support to continue until a child turns 21. That means that the recipient parent can continue receiving payments for the majority of the child’s college education if they complete it on schedule. They can use the support they receive to help cover college expenses. Of course, the amount of child support provided by a parent is probably only a small fraction of the child’s overall college costs. However, child support payments can help with ancillary costs such as books, school supplies, food, and other expenses.
Parents may need to negotiate an arrangement with one another to cover the remainder of a young adult’s college costs. Even if one parent resents making payments to the other via child support, they may still recognize the importance of contributing to a young adult’s college education.
Learning about the rules that govern New York child support can help people establish realistic goals and understand what they can expect as far as financial assistance. Major expenses, like college tuition, may require special consideration from divorcing or separating parents who want to offer the best opportunities for their children.