College expense

[cathy]

All parties are currently in NC.

Separation agreement from 1994 states:

"HUSBAND agrees to pay one-half of all charges for tuition, room and board, custoary student and athletic fees, textbooks, on-campus transporatation and the like for each of the three children born of the marriage, in the event each child enrolls in and attends a college, university or technical school beyond high school.  All said sums shall be payable directly to the institution(s) in which the child enrolls within thirty (30) days following billing or notice by said institution.  HUSBAND's obligation shall not exceed one-half of the costs for tuition, room and board, customary student and athletic fees, textbooks, on-campus transportation and the like at a North Carolina state supported university.  Each child must maintain a G.P.A of 2.0 or greater.  HUSBAND's obigation to pay for post-high school expenses shall not exceed a period of five years of education for each child."

Oldest 'child' is 21 year old son and lives with BM, dropped out of high school and obtained his GED.  Over the past 2 years, son has enrolled in community college, completing 6 classes over 4 semesters- some of which are remedial and do not count toward a degree and one that is pass/fail and does not affect GPA.

The first semester that son enrolled in, BM requested I pay half the cost and presented bill 2 days before it was due.  When I attempted to pay, I found the tuition had already been paid in full by the stepfather.  I wrote a letter indicating I would reimburse when presented with transcript showing 2.0 GPA as required.

BM is now requesting reimbursement for the past 2 years worth of classes.  Transcript lists a 2.0 cumulative GPA, but several classes do not count toward a degree and several do not count toward the GPA calculation.

In addition, tuition has been paid for by the son's stepfather, not by the BM or son.


1) Am I obligated to reimburse BM?

2) If I'm obligated to pay, am I obligated to pay for classes that do not count toward a degree or do not get calculated into the GPA since the agreement was that a 2.0 or greater be maintained?

3) Since son is past age of majority, is this a matter between me and son rather than me and BM?

4) If legally obligated to reimburse BM, could I insist the amount be credited to the arrears she owes in child support, or are these 2 separate and distinct obligations that cannot be co-mingled?

THANKS

(Additional info that probably is not relevant, but will mention:

Son is totally estranged from me, and the 2 minor daughters from the BM.

Stepfather pled guilty (Alford plea) to 2 counts of assault on a female, stipulating assault was inappropriate touching of the 2 minor females (my daughters).

BM has recently had CS reduced due to illness, but is ~$2500 in arrears.

Stepfather currently owes me $750 in restitution for therapy for the girls.

[socrateaser]

>>1) Am I obligated to reimburse BM?

Question is, did you offer to reimburse in writing before the bill was paid by the stepfather or after? If before, then you're on the hook for the money because the stepfather relied on your promise to reimburse him for payment.

If he paid before you offered to reimburse, then his payment was a gift and your offer to reimburse was also a gift -- and a gift can be rescinded without any consequences, because -- it's a gift.

Your obligation is to the school, and the order specifically states that you must pay directly. You are not court ordered to pay anyone else other than the school so you can't be found in contempt.

However, the stepfather could sue you in civil court in quasi-contract on grounds that you obtained an unjust benefit at the stepfather's expense, because but for his payment to the school you would have been obligated to pay and it is not fair for you to be able to avoid the court's order at the stepfather's expense.

Whether the stepfather would win would likely depend on whether you could prove that his payment was a gift to the child until he figured out that you might be put back on the hook for the bill.

The court would probably find you liable, but that's small claims not family court, and collecting from there is not so easy as compared to family court. Nevertheless, you'll likely lose based on your posted facts.

>2) If I'm obligated to pay, am I obligated to pay for classes
>that do not count toward a degree or do not get calculated
>into the GPA since the agreement was that a 2.0 or greater be
>maintained?

The order is ambiguous on the issue of classes that do not count towards a diploma. I would say you can't be found in contempt and that the other parent would need to get a clarification order to force you to pay for such classes as they are out of scope of the order, UNLESS there is a clear requirement or need for the child to take those classes in order to be able to obtain a degree or for some other job-training related purpose.

So, I can't really answer you at this point because I don't know what the classes were for or how they relate to your son's job interests or degree requirements.

>3) Since son is past age of majority, is this a matter between
>me and son rather than me and BM?

Ordinarily yes, but as you signed an agreed order, it's a matter between you an the mom. You made a contract and the court stamped it, so you can't escape dealing with the person you contracted with.
>
>4) If legally obligated to reimburse BM, could I insist the
>amount be credited to the arrears she owes in child support,
>or are these 2 separate and distinct obligations that cannot
>be co-mingled?
>

It's completely reasonable for you to request an offset against support arrears. But, you need to convert those arrears into a money judgment to get the offset, unless the family court judge says different.

I'd go to court and move to have the court offset your obligation as against the arrears.

All your other facts are irrelevant, except the one below:

>Stepfather currently owes me $750 in restitution for therapy
>for the girls.

"Restitution" means to restore to someone something obtained from them by wrongful means. But let's assume that you're just misusing the words, and that you paid for something that the other parent was supposed to pay and you seek reimbursement. If you can get a judgment for the breach of contract then you could use this as part of the offset as well as the support arreage.

If this is really a restitution issue, then the outcome would still be the same, except that you could get what is known as an equitable lien or constructive trust on specific property or money misappropriated, assuming you could trace it. More than likely this isn't what happening here, but I'm just doing the legal analysis cause that's what I'm supposed to do.