Ex dh has suddenly pulled plug on funding ds at university 1/2 way through course.

[Orangeanddemons]

Can he do this? He has suddenly said he can't afford it, despite having lots of big holidays and other stuff.

No reasons, but he told ds he would give it to him all through university. Do we have a legal leg to stand on

I don't receive anything. Ds is 20.

The problem is ds's gf saved some money for him. Ex dh is now using this money to pay fund ds. However, ds had earmarked this to do an MA with. So ex dh is using money saved by someone else to fund ds. However, he used to fund it himself.

That's ds's grandad, not ds's girlfriend

At 20 he should stand on his

At 20 he should stand on his own two feet like 40,000+ other uni students. If your exh has paid for them for 1/2 the course good on him.

If its such a biggie why not you fund him?

If I was your exh I'd quit my work before paying what is to others is "pay your own way"

I don't understand. If your DS is 20 why isn't he paying his own way like most students do?

Or, Riakin, you could have decl

...declined to fund it in the first place, instead of saying you would then pulling out?

Quitting his job w

...would seem thoroughly stupid.

Some students pay their own way, some are supported by parents. Presumably this is agreed with the parents in advance either way.

I'm not sure of the legalities but I don't see why the son is getting criticised for taking up his father on a promise of financial assistance.

Yawn. The reason they ask parental income during the university application process is that you are expected to support your child financially during their time at University.

I don't care how many of you managed to work 40 hours a week cleaning toilets while studying, it is the exception not the rule. The vast majority of parents choose to financially support their DC.

Unfortunately I don't have much advice OP, but I just wanted to reiterate havant's point that student loans are based on parental income and therefore parents are expected to support their children if they earn above a certain threshold.

It is simply not as easy as to say your son should 'stand on his own two feet.'

In my first year of university, my allocated loan was £400 short of even my rent for the year.
This year, I guess I'm lucky...I have £3.50 per week left after rent
I am very lucky my father continues to support me financially as I wouldn't be able to continue my degree otherwise!

OP, I'm assuming your ex's income or financial support was considered as part of your sons loan application? If so, it is not fair for him to pull this support now.

On a practical note, most universities have emergency funds for students who are struggling financially.
He'd have to prove he needs it (they ask for bank statements etc I think), but it might be worth looking into?

It's all very well some of you saying that he should stand on his own two feet. For many, many students, my daughter included, university is unaffordable without some parental support. To pull the plug half way through a course is grossly unfair.

I would also be very surprised if "most" students totally pay their own way. The majority of the students on my daughter's course have part time jobs and some contribution by their parents. Very, very few pay their own way and those that do are depressed, stressed and lumbering themselves with even more debt than average. One of the students at her uni committed suicide because they were under such financial pressure.

Sorry OP, I can't help with your problem, but didn't want you to feel bad for asking the question.

I just wondered about the legal side. Thanks for all your help, well perhaps with the exeception of Raikin.

I do fund him, he only gets the absolute minimum amount of loan

Riakin Sun 05-Jan-14 22:33:54 wrote:

At 20 he should stand on his own two feet like 40,000+ other uni students.

Actually the NUS did a survey a couple years ago and the vast majority of dependent students receive some form of support from their family - money, food parcels, toiletries, computers, a base to stay, clothing etc.

"Dependent" students are those defined by student loans as under 25 years who haven't worked and supported themselves for 3 years.

Maintenance for university students always causes a lot of controversy but this is a legal thread and the Court of Appeal dismissed the argument that students should be self supporting.

Good grief, why WOULDN'T you support your DC through university if you had the ability to? What's the matter with some of you??!

MN is the only place I have ever encountered this 'stand on their own 2 feet' and once they reach 18 sod them attitude thankfully.

I do think that the ones who post like that, don't actually have dc in uni.

That's interesting about the court of appeal

Somehow I hadn't realised that whenever.
So potentially, a student's dad, who they no longer live with as their parents have separated, could be earning 100k+ and providing financial support to their DC, but said student may still be eligible to full and non-repayable grants if their mother earns under the threshold?

That seems crazy!

But I guess for obvious reasons you can't have a blanket policy which assumes all ex partners are equally involved and will contribute to their DCs education! Student finance is complicated at the best of times, untangling which non-resident parents are willing to support and which not would be a nightmare.

Sorry OP, slightly off track there. Just highlighted something I'd never realised before.