Hello,

I am looking for information on how to find out how college tuition is broken up and who has to pay what. My daughter is 18 years old, will be graduating Wednesday from high school early (3-4-10). She currently does not live at home. She has been living with friends or family since August 09. She will however be moving in with her father supposedly next week. Nothing is spelled out in the child support paperwork that we filled in Jan 04. She is signed up to start IvyTech in the fall as far as I know. My husband has a problem with paying for 1/3 of college because of her lack of responsibility in a lot of areas. My husband is jher stepdad and I have been a astay at home mom since 1997 and I have no income of my own... Where do I go from here? Thanks

Child support guidelines are set out in the Indiana Rules of Court. The guidelines are based on the income shares model, based on gross income. Support may include sums necessary for a child's education, including post-majority education.
You can find them here:
Indiana Child Support Rules and Guidelines
Ind. Code § 31-1-11.5-12(b)(1) provides that a child support order may include sums for institution of higher learning.

You could be ordered to pay for all or a portion of your child's college education if your divorce state has a law giving a court the power to award college support, also called post-secondary or post-minority support. College support may be in addition to child support, a part of child support, or a separate payment after regular child support ends. It can be used to pay for an education at a college, university, vocational school, or other type of post-secondary educational institution.

A court having the power to order college support may consider several factors when ordering you to pay for your child's college education. Some of these factors are:

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You and your ex-spouse's financial resources,
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Your child's financial resources,
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Your child's aptitude, ability, goals and interests,
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You and your spouse's expectations for your child when you were living together,
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Standard of living the child would have had if you had not divorced,
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You and your ex-spouse's standard of living,
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You and your ex-spouse's level of education,
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The post-secondary education of the child's siblings or half-siblings,
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The nature of the post-secondary education your child wants, and
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Your child's age.

Another thing Id like to add is that there are provisions of the law that state your daughter must have a plan in place already before attending college and before their 18th birthday. This was suppose to be submitted to the courts.