Indiana Child Support Guidelines

Guideline 8. Extraordinary Expenses

Effective January 1, 2020

Extraordinary Educational Expenses.

The data upon which the Guideline schedules are based include a component for ordinary educational expenses. Any extraordinary educational expenses incurred on behalf of a child shall be considered apart from the total Basic Child Support Obligation.

Extraordinary educational expenses may be for elementary, secondary or post-secondary education, and should be limited to reasonable and necessary expenses for attending private or special schools, institutions of higher learning, and trade, business or technical schools to meet the particular educational needs of the child.

a. Elementary and Secondary Education.

If the expenses are related to elementary or secondary education, the court may want to consider whether the expense is the result of a personal preference of one parent or whether both parents concur; whether the parties would have incurred the expense while the family was intact; and whether or not education of the same or higher quality is available at less cost.

b. Post-Secondary Education.

The authority of the court to award post-secondary educational expenses is derived from IC 31 16 6 2. It is discretionary with the court to award post-secondary educational expenses and in what amount. In making such a decision, the court should consider post-secondary education to be a group effort, and weigh the ability of each parent to contribute to payment of the expense, as well as the ability of the student to pay a portion of the expense.

When determining whether or not to award post-secondary educational expenses, the court should consider each parent’s income, earning ability, financial assets and liabilities. If the expected parental contribution is zero under Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), the court should not award post-secondary educational expenses. If the court determines an award of post-secondary educational expenses would impose a substantial financial burden, an award should not be ordered.

If the court determines that an award of post-secondary educational expenses is appropriate, it should apportion the expenses between the parents and the child, taking into consideration the incomes and overall financial condition of the parents and the child, education gifts, education trust funds, and any other education savings program. The court should also take into consideration scholarships, grants, student loans, summer and school year employment and other cost reducing programs available to the student. These latter sources of assistance should be credited to the child's share of the educational expense unless the court determines that it should credit a portion of any scholarships, grants and loans to either or both parents’ share(s) of the education expense.

Current provisions of the Internal Revenue Code provide tax credits and preferences which will subsidize the cost of a child's post-secondary education. While tax planning on the part of all parties will be needed to maximize the value of these subsidies, no one party should disproportionately benefit from the tax treatment of post-secondary expenses. Courts may consider who may be entitled to claim various education tax benefits and tax exemptions for the minor child(ren) and the total value of the tax subsidies prior to assigning the financial responsibility of post-secondary expenses to the parents and the child.

A determination of what constitutes educational expenses will be necessary and will generally include tuition, books, lab fees, course related supplies, and student activity fees. Room and board may be included when the child does not reside with either parent.

The impact of an award of post-secondary educational expenses is substantial upon the custodial and non custodial parent and a reduction of the Basic Child Support Obligation attributable to the child under the age of nineteen years will be required when the child does not reside with either parent.

The court should require that a student maintain a certain minimum level of academic performance to remain eligible for parental assistance and should include such a provision in its order. The court should also consider requiring the student or the custodial parent provide the noncustodial parent with a copy of the child’s high school transcript and each semester or trimester post-secondary education grade report.

The court may limit consideration of college expenses to the cost of state supported colleges and universities or otherwise may require that the income level of the family and the achievement level of the child be sufficient to justify the expense of private school.

c. Use of Post-Secondary Education Worksheet.

The Worksheet makes two calculations. Section One calculates the contribution of each parent for payment of post-secondary education expenses based upon his or her percentage share of the weekly adjusted income from the Child Support Obligation Worksheet after contribution from the student toward those costs. Notwithstanding this calculation, the court retains discretion to award and determine the allocation of these expenses taking into consideration the ability of each parent to meet these expenses and the child’s reasonable ability to contribute to his or her educational expenses. The method of paying such contribution should be addressed in the court's order.

In situations when the student, under age nineteen (19), remains at home with the custodial parent while attending an institution of higher learning, generally no reduction to the non-custodial parent's support obligation will occur and Section Two of the Worksheet need not be completed.

Section Two determines the amount of each parent's weekly support obligation for the student who does not live at home year round. The amount attributable to the student while at home has been annualized to avoid weekly variations in the order. It further addresses the provisions of IC 31 16 6 2(b) which require a reduction in the child support obligation when the court orders the payment of educational expenses which are duplicated or would otherwise be paid to the custodial parent. In determining the reduction, the student is treated as emancipated. This treatment recognizes that the diminishing marginal effect of additional children is due to economies of scale in consumption and not the age of the children. A second child becomes the "first child" in terms of consumption and the custodial parent will receive Guideline child support on that basis.

Section Two applies when the parties' only child attending school does not reside with the custodial parent while attending school, as well as when the parties have more than one child and one resides away from home while attending school and the other child(ren) remain at home.

Line E of the Worksheet determines the percentage of the year the student lives at home. Line F is used to enter the Basic Child Support Obligation, from the Guideline Schedules for all of the children of the parties including the student who does not live at home year round. Line G is used to enter the amount of support for those children who are not living away from home. If the student is the only child, Line G will be $0.00. The difference between Lines F and G is the total support obligation attributable to the student. This is entered on Line H. By multiplying the percentage of the year the student lives at home, times the support obligation attributable to the student, the Worksheet pro rates to a weekly basis the total support obligation attributed to the student. This is computed on Line I and the result is included in the uninsured health care expense calculation. The parents' pro rata share of this obligation is computed in Line J. This result is included in section 7 of the Child Support Obligation Worksheet.

1. The One Child Situation. When the parties' only child is a student who does not live at home with the custodial parent while attending school, Section Two establishes the weekly support obligation for that child on Line I. The regular Child Support Obligation Worksheet should be completed through Line 5 for that child and the annualized obligation from Line J of the Post-Secondary Education Worksheet is entered on Line 7 with an explanation of the deviation in the order or decree.

2. The More Than One Child Situation. When the parties have more than one child, Section Two requires the preparation of a regular Child Support Obligation Worksheet applicable only to the child(ren) who regularly reside with the custodial parent, and for a determination of that support obligation. The annualized obligation from Line J of the Post-Secondary Education Worksheet is then inserted on Line 7 of the regular support Worksheet as an addition to the Parent's Child Support Obligation on Line 6. An explanation of the increase in the support obligation should then appear in the order or decree.

In both situations the Child Support Obligation Worksheet and the Post-Secondary Education Worksheet must be filed with the court. This includes cases in which agreed orders are submitted.

When more than one child lives away from home while attending school, Section One of the Post-Secondary Education Worksheet should be prepared for each child. However, Section Two should be completed once for all children living away from home while attending school. The number used to fill in the blank in Line E should be the average number of weeks these children live at home. For example, if one child lives at home for ten (10) weeks and another child lives at home for sixteen (16) weeks, the average number of weeks will be thirteen (13). This number would then be inserted in the blank on Line E which is then divided by 52 (weeks).

Other Extraordinary Expenses.

The economic data used in developing the Child Support Guideline Schedules do not include components related to those expenses of an “optional” nature such as costs related to summer camp, soccer leagues, scouting and the like. When both parents agree that the child(ren) may participate in optional activities, the parents should pay their pro rata share of these expenses from line 2 of the Child Support Obligation Worksheet. In the absence of an agreement relating to such expenses, assigning responsibility for the costs should take into account factors such as each parent’s ability to pay, which parent is encouraging the activity, whether the child(ren) has/have historically participated in the activity, and the reasons a parent encourages or opposes participation in the activity. If the parents or the court determine that the child(ren) may participate in optional activities, the method of sharing the expenses shall be set forth in the entry.