[Solved] Consent Order - Full Time Tertiary Education

Finally got round to seeking some advice on this, so this full-time tertiary education does indeed include University. Even if it didn’t mean University, a child can make a section 1 Children’s Act application for provision while at university so if you don’t have to pay one way, you potentially would have to pay the other. 

As mentioned above I am fine supporting my child through Uni, but the wording of my consent order does not specify any timeframe i.e. until completion of 1st degree, so could potentially be never ending. When I asked about this the response received was as follows:

"If your child is likely to become a “professional student” where they go from one degree to another, there is a very good chance that you would get the order amended so that it only applies to the 1st degree." I could look to get this amended now, or wait to see if this becomes reality.

The final aspect for me was that I wanted to ensure maintenance payments once my child reaches 18, go direct to them and not the ex. The response to this was that a court would not normally order the payments to be made to the parent if whilst at university, the payments were being made directly to the child.

Essentially it would be a waste of time for the ex to try and take me to court to insist the maintenance is still paid to her.

Its a while off still before I have to deal with this scenario but I hope this info helps anyone else who is in a similar situation.

Hi @dad80. Did you ever find out if getting a CMS decision overruled the end date of the consent order? Ie, would involving CMS mean you no longer have to pay throughout university?

I would guess (and it's only that) that if CMS did override the order, as they normally do, then at the end of the CMS period, the mother could probably go back to court to get the original order reinstated on the basis that it was the original court's intention.

As far as I know, tertiary education in the context of child maintenance payments usually means university, but it can also include other types of post-secondary education (I mean college, polytechnic, technical institute, community college, and so on). In your case, I bet the consent order states that child maintenance payments will continue until the child either turns 18 or ceases full-time tertiary education, whichever is later. This means that the payments could continue until the child completes their university education, even if they are over the age of 18.