Here is a problem which occasionally arises under old orders which simply say that periodical payments for either the wife or (in non-CSA case) the child continue until the child "reaches the age of 18 or finishes full-time education, whichever is the later". The question is does that include tertiary education?
The answer is yes. In B v B (Adult Student: Liability to Support) [1998] 1 FLR 373 CA, the husband, who wanted to terminate the periodical payments he was paying for his daughter, who was at university, argued that the order had terminated on her completing secondary education. Thorpe LJ said:
"The financial arrangements following the divorce of her parents were the subject of an order made in the Plymouth County Court on 4 November 1991. By para 4 of that order, the appellant was required to pay to his former wife for the children of the family periodical payments at the rate of £175 per month per child until they respectively attained the age of 17 years or ceased full-time education, whichever should be the later, or further order. Manifestly, the liability in respect of his daughter continues under the provisions of that paragraph."
In practice, of course, it is ordinarily futile to argue about this anyway because the child has his/her own right to claim periodical payments under Schedule 1 of the Children Act 1989.
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