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It might feel as though, once the child is technically an adult, they should take care of themselves and, if they want to go to university, they should be responsible for paying their way. But that is not necessarily the case. Even if the child has been independent for a while, the moment they want to return to full-time education or training, it is possible for an order to be made requiring a parent to provide financial support.
When the children were younger, a maintenance order may have been made, or perhaps the maintenance was assessed by the Child Maintenance Service, or ideally the parents were able to agree the amount to be paid by the non-resident parent. Such agreements will ordinarily end once the child has completed their full-time secondary education. Indeed, the court cannot order maintenance beyond the child’s 18th birthday except (a) in special circumstances or (b) where the child is (or would be if an order is made) in full-time education or training. Similarly, a child support assessment will end at the latest when the child is 19.
To the parent who has provided most of the care, university can be a worrying prospect, coming as it does just when the maintenance order or assessment is coming to an end. Of course they want their children to get an education and to do well, but the costs can sometimes seem prohibitive, and they may wonder how on earth they are going to be able to afford it all.
Adult children
To the child who has done well at school and would like to continue into university, but who is aware of the financial struggles faced by the parent they live with – perhaps also aware of the difficulties faced during the parents’ divorce, it may feel like too much to ask for continuing financial support from that one parent.
Who can apply for financial provision, and what will they get?
Usually, it will be the parent who provided the majority of care during the child’s minority who will make the application. The other parent will be the respondent. In some cases, the child themselves can make the application.
The application need not be limited to maintenance. It can include provision for payment of a lump sum or sums. So long as the application is made before the child is 18 (even if it is not dealt with by the court until much later), it can also include provision for property transfer orders.
For adult children contemplating university but worried about the costs, this can be enormously welcome to both them and the parent who has provided the majority of their care. The other parent might be required to provide not only an income but also rent, and sums for equipment and books – possibly even to settle or transfer property for that child’s benefit.
Special circumstances for financial provision – neurodiversity and disability
There are other circumstances where a parent might be expected to continue financial support for an adult child. Such circumstances must, however, be special.
It is widely reported in the media that today’s young adults – notably, Gen Z – are faced with difficulties which are unique to their generation. They were in education when the pandemic struck, often isolated from their friends and teachers at a crucial time in their development. Chronic anxiety, depression and other debilitating mental health conditions have been highly reported affecting not just Gen Z, but many individuals.
Neurodivergence also plays its part in making life challenging, leaving some unable to work as a result or facing difficulty functioning independently.
A disability is undoubtedly a special circumstance that would invoke the court’s jurisdiction to make a maintenance order which continues into the child’s adulthood. Such disability might be physical and/or mental. A mental disability might well include the anxiety, depression and neurodivergence mentioned above.
It therefore seems possible that the very particular difficulties faced by the current generation of young adults might well lead to a rise in applications for maintenance which continue well beyond the child’s 18th birthday.
Applications for maintenance are assessed by reference not only to the needs of the applicant, of course. Any maintenance payable must be affordable to the paying parent. As with all things family law, the outcome will be bespoke to the unique circumstances of each case.
Contact DMH Stallard for expert and sensitive advice
If you are the separated or divorced parent of an adult child who would like to go to university or of a child who is unable – through illness, disability or the unique challenges faced by our young people – to be independent, and you would like advice about whether the other parent should be contributing, or contributing more, then please contact us by email, or call +44(0)3333 231 580 for expert legal advice.
