Divorce Lawyer Considerations Regarding Private Schools

Is it possible for the domiciliary parent of a child to simply enroll them in a private school and then request that the other parent pay for the increase in tuition? The answer: it depends. There really is no 'standard' to determine whether your child will go to a private school funded, in part, by the other parent other than the child's best interests.

But this requires much more of an explanation because simply because a school costs money does not necessarily mean that it is better than a public school; rather you or your divorce lawyer will likely have to introduce evidence that shows this. What type of evidence? This depends on why it is that the private school is in the best interests of the child. If the child has gone to that school for the majority of their life, they have extensive contacts and friends at the school and removing the child in the middle of a family break up would cause harm to the child because it would leave the child without a support network during a difficult period in the lives, it will probably be necessary for a divorce lawyer or other attorney to simply show the length of the contact that the child has been at that school and then how the child has been performing academically.

If it is in the best interests of the child that the child switch to a private school, the divorce lawyer will likely need to introduce evidence to show that the child has a need that is not being met at the school that they are in and that the other school meets that need. This will probably require testing of the child so that the court is not simply relying on the diagnosis of the parent in making its ruling.

Child support in general does not concern itself typically with whether the parents are actually able to afford paying the amount that is ordered. In fact, the law in Louisiana allowing for tuition and other school expenses to be part of a child support award is silent on a parent's ability to pay. A court may listen and consider arguments from the parent, their divorce lawyer, or other attorney if the parent puts on evidence that they are simply not able to afford an increase in tuition or other expenses.

Lastly, the fact one parent is the domiciliary parent does not necessarily give them the unilateral decision ability to simply enroll the child in private school and then send the invoice to the other parent. First of all, the other parent may not be ordered to pay such costs. Secondly, even if they are, this could be seen as an overreach of the power of domiciliary status. In fact, such a strategy may backfire as one recent court decision found that tuition expenses are not "automatically added to the basic child support obligation."

Will Beaumont is a divorce lawyer in Metairie & New Orleans. This article is strictly informational and not legal advice.