How to Pay For College While Going through a Divorce

The decision to pursue divorce and college simultaneously impacts many families, presenting significant financial challenges. Both processes entail substantial expenses—college tuition during divorce can strain finances, making it daunting to navigate both endeavors concurrently.

From the outset of today’s blog post, I would like to be clear that I favor taking out little to no debt to complete either process. I realize that this may not be a popular view; it may not even be possible for some of you where you currently sit. I also realized that you could choose when and if you go back to college, but you cannot necessarily choose when your child goes to college or when a divorce is something that confronts you and your family. In those situations, the best you can do is prepare as diligently as possible, and two, take whatever steps you can to minimize disruption to your family life.

In today’s blog post from the Law Office of Bryan Fagan, I would like to discuss my thoughts on how to pay for college while going through a divorce. As I alluded to a moment ago, this is a conversation that hinges upon several different factors related to the type of divorce you will be getting and whether it is you or your child that will be going through college. With all factors considered, I believe you can navigate this process successfully, whether your divorce is lengthy or your college education spans two, four, or more years.

Sometimes the divorce can wait, and other times, it cannot.

If you find yourself served with divorce papers before you leave for work one day, you have a little option to proceed with the divorce. Supposing that your spouse brings a divorce on you and your family completely out of the blue, then it would probably appear that you have little option but to proceed with hiring an attorney and moving forward with the divorce. In this type of situation, you cannot adequately prepare, the small likelihood for the divorce. The best you can likely do is prepare as best you can and do what you can to protect your family and children.

If no divorce has been filed and your spouse is not actively pursuing one, you may have the opportunity to delay the case. First, I would look to whether or not counseling or therapy with a professional marriage counselor is a possibility. Many times I think people disregard the possibility of avoiding a divorce altogether as a means to decrease the cost of a divorce financially in your family. While your family may not be in a position to talk your way out of the problems in your marriage, I would explore it as a possibility, if nothing else.

Exploring counseling as a preventive measure against divorce

Consider exploring every avenue to prevent divorce. Getting therapy or counseling ahead of time isn’t a mark against you—it’s an opportunity to develop essential communication skills for addressing marital problems effectively. Not everyone naturally possesses these skills, but counseling sessions can quickly help you develop them.

While you are going through divorce counseling, you can choose to take the opportunity to consider your life after the divorce. This does not mean that you necessarily have to hedge your bets, so to speak, but it does mean that you can put some degree of preparation in place for a possible divorce. This could involve setting aside money in the bank for future counseling or to cover attorney fees and divorce filing costs.

Learning to save money is never a bad thing period you may find that learning to save money could help you solve some financial problems that you are experiencing in your marriage and could lead you more readily towards reconciliation with your spouse, especially if the problems in your marriage are based on is she’s related to finances or even financial infidelity. Again, you know your family circumstances much better than I do. But if you think that counseling or therapy could help you solve the major issues in your relationship, you should explore that with as much energy as you can.

Preparing ahead for a cost-effective divorce

Another way that you can work to set yourself up for a less costly entrance into your divorce is to prepare for the divorce ahead of time. If you do not believe that marriage counseling or therapy will work for your family, this could be a mindset that you have. Instead, you believe that divorce isn’t an inevitability. So long as conditions are not harmful to you or your children at home, you can take the time to plan out your divorce by saving money, organizing documents, and generally laying out a game plan for your case before actually engaging with an attorney.

Meeting with an experienced family law attorney with the law office of Brian Fagan when you are beginning to determine the initial stages of your divorce can provide you with a great leg up when it’s time to begin the case. You can look for any opportunity that is available to you when it comes to getting together information that will be necessary for your divorce.

Performing a basic inventory of your property, beginning to collect financial documents like retirement account statements, health insurance paperwork, in other documents can provide you with an advantage when it is time for your divorce to begin. Remember that any work you can perform on your own without an attorney can and will save you money. Most likely, any tasks postponed until after hiring a lawyer will likely be managed by the attorney and their staff. This can cost you money and time.

Rather than letting the attorney dictate the necessary tasks in your case, you can take the initiative to complete these steps yourself, potentially saving both time and effort for your attorney later on.

Who is going to college: you or your child?

Another important question to consider regarding paying for college during a divorce is which person in your family needs a college education. An additional question that you can ask yourself is whether or not the person needs to go to college or whether or not it is more or less a want at this stage. As with many things, a need should be attacked as early as possible in a family scenario. At the same time, I want to take a back seat to take care of those things that are actual needs.

Let’s assume that it is your child who is on the brink of going to college. In that case, you will hopefully have discussions with them about an important subject called college choice. While my children are too young to be discussing this with, I imagine that many of you are at the stage where your kids are starting to talk to you about an interest in going to college and where they would like to go to school.

In that case, you should take the opportunity to discuss with them the important role of determining where they go to school in part based on the cost of the school. If you have the financial means to pay for your child’s college education at any school they choose, then this discussion may be unnecessary, as acceptance could be the sole determining factor.

Considering cost factors when choosing your child’s college

However, the fact that you are reading this blog post tells me that cost considerations are likely essential when deciding where your child will be going to school. As a result, you should be upfront with your child about the importance of this factor when determining where they can go to school. It goes without saying that if you are a resident of Texas, then it would be far less expensive for your child to go to a public University in Texas than to a school in another state. While this may be obvious to you, your child and their teachers and guidance counselors may have skimmed over this point. After all, it is only your money that is of concern. Child teachers and guidance counselors may be less concerned about cost and more concerned about other factors.

As a result, you need to be the adult in your child’s life to bring up his consideration and make sure that they are aware that this is a factor that will weigh heavily on which school they can go to they can attend put, if you lack the cash in hand or in a bank account to pay for a certain University your child should not be attending. This applies twice as much to a situation where you are also going through a divorce at the same time. Money is tight at home; you cannot afford to be spending excess money on an education for your child that could be earned elsewhere at a much cheaper price point.

The value of education beyond where you attend college

Consider, for a moment, how many times in your professional life someone has asked you where you attended college or University. I am willing to bet you that the vast majority of times anyone has asked you this question, he was more or less to make conversation or two find out more about you. It is doubtful that where you attended school in most professional situations makes a big difference to a person one way or the other. Rather, where you attended school matters much less than what you learned while at that school. The degree’s value is not impacted disproportionately based on how much Ivy is on the wall about a particular college.

The other issue to consider is whether you are the person who is currently attending college or is planning on going back to school to earn a degree or complete a degree that was started some years ago. To be sure, there is a great deal of merit in deciding to attend college as an adult. The past 15 months have provided some degree of evidence that the more educated you are, the more healthy you will be and the more likely you are to avoid the ill effects of unforeseeable and potentially catastrophic situations like a global pandemic.

Financial considerations

The past year has also taught us that it is easier to earn a degree now than ever before in the sense that you do not need to be physically present in a classroom to go to school. Evening, night, and online classes make college attendance much simpler and more streamlined for working people. If you were earning a college degree and have had a divorce case thrust upon you, then do you have some decisions about whether or not to continue your education or whether or not you need to take the resources that you had been applying to your education and reapply them towards a future divorce.

Without looking inside your wallet or bank account, I cannot tell you what the right decision for you and your family is. Certainly, as with all things financial, if you have the cash to do something, you are in a better position than without the cash. It would help if you asked yourself the future costs of completing a college education and what those costs mean in conjunction with the need to proceed with the divorce, and the costs associated with hiring an attorney. If you believe you have the funds to do both simultaneously, you could consider it. If not, you may again need to put your card education on hold until your divorce is completed.

Managing time and priorities

The reality of going through a divorce is that it tends to engulf a majority of your free time. Between work commitments, family commitments, and divorce commitments, your next 6 to 8 months may pretty well be spoken for. This does not mean that you don’t have the ability or time to get a divorce And complete your degree. However, it does mean that your time will be extremely tight if you choose to continue to move forward with both. If you need to maintain a certain grade point average to sustain a scholarship or grant, for instance, then you may want to reconsider a decision to move forward with the divorce and college education at the same time.

These are just my general thoughts on the subject. I cannot emphasize enough how your circumstances, ability and willingness to sacrifice your time in sleep, and the prognosis for your divorce all play crucial roles in determining the feasibility of moving forward with paying for College in a divorce simultaneously. Furthermore, if your child will be going to college, that changes the equation completely.

Conclusion

My advice on where to start examining this scenario would be to get a firm grasp of how much money the college education will cost, how much time you will need to devote to completing your degree, and the likely costs of your divorce. When you have some solid numbers to start your analysis with, you can begin to engage in some deep thinking about what is best for you and your family. Otherwise, there is nothing wrong with tapping the brakes on a college education if you are forced to begin a divorce sooner than you would like.

Managing college tuition during divorce poses significant financial challenges for families. Navigating these dual commitments demands careful financial planning and exploring all available resources, including financial aid and potential scholarships. By addressing these concerns proactively and possibly negotiating divorce settlements that consider educational expenses, families can better navigate this complex period while supporting their educational goals.

Questions about the material contained in today’s blog post? Contact the Law Office of Bryan Fagan

If you have any questions about the material contained in today’s blog post, please do not hesitate to contact the Law Office of Bryan Fagan. Our licensed family law attorneys offer free of charge consultation six days a week in person, over the phone, and via video. These consultations are a great way for you to learn more about the world of Texas family law and how your family may be impacted by the filing of a divorce or child custody case.

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Other Articles you may be interested in:

1. College Expenses and Child Support after divorce: Money, money, money
2. College Expenses and Child Support
3. Which Parent Pays for College After a Divorce?
4. I Want a Texas Divorce but My Husband Doesn’t: What can I do?
5. Am I Married? – Marital Status in Texas
6. Can I sue my spouse’s mistress in Texas?
7. 6 Tips – On How to prepare for a Texas Divorce
8. Roadmap of Basic Divorce Procedure in Texas
9. Child Custody Basics in Texas
10. 6 Mistakes that can Destroy Your Texas Divorce Case
11. 10 Quick Tips About Parental Visitation
12. Does it Matter who Files First in a Texas Divorce?

Law Office of Bryan Fagan, PLLC | Spring, Texas Divorce Lawyer

The Law Office of Bryan Fagan, PLLC routinely handles matters that affect children and families. If you have questions regarding divorce, it’s important to speak with one of our Spring, TX Divorce Lawyers right away to protect your rights.

Our divorce lawyers in Spring TX are skilled at listening to your goals during this trying process and developing a strategy to meet those goals. Contact the Law Office of Bryan Fagan, PLLC by calling (281) 810-9760 or submit your contact information in our online form. The Law Office of Bryan Fagan, PLLC handles Divorce cases in Spring, Texas, Cypress, Klein, Humble, Kingwood, Tomball, The Woodlands, the FM 1960 area, or surrounding areas, including Harris County, Montgomery County, Liberty County, Chambers County, Galveston County, Brazoria County, Fort Bend County, and Waller County.

Bryan Joseph Fagan( Attorney )

Bryan Fagan, a native of Atascocita, Texas, is a dedicated family law attorney inspired by John Grisham’s “The Pelican Brief.” He is the first lawyer in his family, which includes two adopted brothers. Bryan’s commitment to family is personal and professional; he cared for his grandmother with Alzheimer’s while completing his degree and attended the South Texas College of Law at night.

Married with three children, Bryan’s personal experiences enrich his understanding of family dynamics, which is central to his legal practice. He specializes in family law, offering innovative and efficient legal services. A certified member of the College of the State Bar of Texas, Bryan is part of an elite group of legal professionals committed to ongoing education and high-level expertise.

His legal practice covers divorce, custody disputes, property disputes, adoption, paternity, and mediation. Bryan is also experienced in drafting marital property agreements. He leads a team dedicated to complex family law cases and protecting families from false CPS allegations.

Based in Houston, Bryan is active in the Houston Family Law Sector of the Houston Bar Association and various family law groups in Texas. His deep understanding of family values and his professional dedication make him a compassionate advocate for families navigating Texas family law.