<p>^“The judge refused to make the father provide his financial information. The reason given was that there was no prior agreement addressing college funding.”</p>
<p>That’s correct for this example because apparently the child must be residing in a state that does not provide for post-18 educational support, nor the parents had a written agreement about it. A custodial parent can file a motion to compel the parent do something for the welfare of the minor child. There are differences on whether the issue has to do with legal vs physical custody, whether the state-not just the divorce/parental agreement allows for educational tuition after the child becomes 18, etc. As long as the court has jurisdiction, then the ncp can be ordered to do an action for the child’s welfare. The court that has jurisdiction is where the child resided the last 6 months, but if the child is in college that’s the state where the cp lives with the child.
Examples to clarify:
1-If the minor child will travel unaccompanied to a country that requires both parents that share legal custody to sign the form. Chile is one of these countries, so if the cp wants to send the child to participate at a program there, the judge can force the ncp to sign the form.
2-If the child is under 17yrs old and parents have joint legal, then the ncp can be compelled to sign the US passport application. If there are issues about kidnapping the child, obviously that’s a different issue.
3-Regarding having the child participate in a religious ceremony in the religion that he/she has been baptized and the shared legal but ncp refuses to allow, the judge can compel to do so.
4-In states where the ncp has to share educational expenses post 18 yrs old, the judge can compel the ncp to present all required financial documents, eg MA. Also, when one party goes in front of the judge, both parties are supposed to file a current financial statement with the court.The cp has the right in these states to subpoena the financial records from IRS, employer, banks, etc.
5-In states that all support stops upon the child becoming 18, ie FL, the ncp can not be forced to provide the financial info as it relates to an issue that is post-18 because he/she is not legally bounded to contribute to the college expenses.
6-In ex5, if there was a parental/divorce agreement that the ncp has to contribute to college expenses, then the judge can compel that person to present the financial info.
7-In ex5, if the minor child needed the financial info to attend a specialized school due to disability, etc, while the child was under 18yrs old, then the ncp will be compelled to provide the info.</p>
<p>As another poster mentioned, the cp can not legally let the other parent off the hook for child support. The child upon becoming 18 yrs old can go to court, get child support for the last 2 years maximumm, and if the states provides for college tuition, also get tuition support from ncp.</p>