A 40-year-old law in Illinois gives the court the authority to compel divorced parents to contribute to their child’s college expenses. We have discussed this law in a number of posts on this blog. Earlier this month, however, a judge in Cook County issued a ruling that found the law to be unconstitutional.
The Case in Question
In 2016, a divorced woman filed a petition asking the court to force her ex-husband to contribute to their 21-year-old daughter’s college expenses. The court used the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act (IMDMA) to determine that each parent was required to pay 40 percent of the daughter’s expenses and that the daughter was responsible for 20 percent through grants, scholarships, or a job. The daughter reportedly did not do anything to cover her portion, and her mother covered the difference.
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