Traditionally, autumn is a boom season for divorce, particularly for couples, who wait out the summer at the cottage before returning home to cut their marital ties. Many couples considering splitting decide to wait until after the holidays to break the news to their children. How are these parents going to approach their separation or divorce – and how will it affect their children? Obviously school-year separations can be difficult for school-age children. Parents need to bend over backwards to minimize the changes and transitions in their child’s life so as to keep school-related schedules, after-school activities, playtime with friends and other routines as much the same as possible.
Parents with university aged children face the additional burden of having kids who are moving away from home. The added stress of dealing with ever increasing tuition costs and related school expenses makes divorce at this stage more complex.
As couples work through their separation agreement, they should be aware of the many financial issues that affect them and their children beyond the traditional items of child support.
They should be considering such things as:
Is there enough savings set aside for tuition and room& board expenses
How will any shortfall be funded by each parent?
Who manages any RESP plan set up for the student?
What additional expenses will students/parents incur as a result of parents living apart
Who will benefit from any tuition tax credit available to transfer to a parent
Sending kids off to university is an exciting and challenging time for both students and parents alike. Dealing with divorce at this stage in your family’s life adds additional challenges. If you need help sorting through the financial issues around these issues, a Cerified Divorce Financial Analyst (CDFA) is in the position to help.
Eva Sachs CFP® CDFA™ is the founder of Eva Sachs Divorce Financial Consulting, providing advice about all financial issues when facing divorce. To learn more about Eva Sachs click http://thedivorceangels.com/vendor/eva-sachs/
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