Legal Question in Family Law in Indiana

Re: 20 year old living w/boyfriend but going to school.

If the court has entered an order requiring the parents to contribute to the costs of college expenses, then such order will last beyond the child's 21st birthday for so long as she attends college. If the court has not entered any particular order for the parents to pay college expenses and no petition is pending to require payment prior to the 21st birthday, the daughter could be out of luck with respect to expecting parental contribution.

Having said that, clearly the parents disagree about where the child resides during college. If the parents were still married, how would they handle the situation? That, unfortunately, is the question a court would have to answer. Would the parents then set her adrift for making a choice of where to reside but staying in school or would they continue to pay? And another hard question is why a child whose parents are paying for college thinks he or she has the right to make decisions about how the money is spent. I think a more serious concern ought to be why should she and the boyfriend be forced to live together by a lease if they break up shortly after moving in together - particularly if the parents are on the lease. Somebody needs to sit down and have a long talk - or let the parent who supports this position sign on the lease and be stuck paying for it if the daughter decides she does not want to continue to live with the boyfriend.

Clearly, getting into court can be tricky in this instance - how long will it take to get to court, as compared to when will the living arrangement begin and end, and consideration of what the present court order for college expenses is.