Child Support and Private School Tuition

I found a good article over at PA Law Weekly regarding support orders and private school tuition.

Article excerpt:

"A court may order a father to pay for his child's private parochial school education, a Superior Court panel ruled in an opinion that addresses how support should change as children grow.

The three-judge panel rejected the father's claim that private education is beyond his family's standard of living and that being forced to support a Roman Catholic School violates his constitutional right of conscience. Gibbons v. Kugle, PICS Case No. 06-1300, (Pa. Super., Sept. 22, 2006) Colville, S.J. (16 pages)

Senior Judge Robert E. Colville wrote the opinion, in which judges Michael T. Joyce and Jack A. Panella joined.

Jody A. Leighty, Stock & Leader in York, represented the mother of the child for whom the father was ordered to pay tuition. She said the decision provides more guidance on when private school tuition may be awarded.

The decision in Gibbons is unique because it addresses the question of when private school is appropriate for a child who had not yet attended school at the time of the parents' divorce, he said.

"All of the cases out there have dealt with situations where the children have private school experience," Leighty said. "

Its a good read for anybody involved in a child support case.

Here is the link: http://www.palawweekly.com/plw/getarticle.aspx?ID=20897