Changing child to private school - final orders already in place.

[JadeGoldCoast]

Hi all,

I was wondering if anyone could give any advice to a father that has final orders for a child to attend a state school, who is wanting to move the child to a private school - father is happy to cover costs of private school.

Is the father best to wait until the child starts high school (child is is currently in prep) or is it possible to try and implement the change of school somehow before this? Mother is unlikely to agree to the change.

Thanks.

 

[Scruff]

He should abide by the court order regardless of who's willing to pay the costs - if he doesn't, he's breaking the law. If the mother is unlikely to agree, then there is already a red flag indicating that he'll pay if he breaches the order.

Best thing would be to work towards getting the mother to agree to having the orders changed. Doing anything else could work against him.

 

[JadeGoldCoast]

Thanks Scruff. The father would never try to change the school without the courts or mother's consent.
We are wondering if there is a legal way to amend the orders or if we are best to wait and apply for court again when the child attends high school.
High school is not discussed in the current final orders, so we are hoping this will be a big enough change in circumstances to reach the Rice and Asplund threshold.

 

[sammy01]

He can offer new consent orders that express that he will take sole responsibility for the school fees. But If the intention here is to use the change from primary school to high school to re-open the case in court to increase the amount of time, I think you'll struggle.

 

[JadeGoldCoast]

Thanks Sammy. We genuinely just want the child to go to a private school.
The state primary school he is currently enrolled in has a fairly good reputation but the high school has a really bad reputation and has done for quite some time.

 

[sammy01]

Offer to pay for all school fees, uniform etc etc. If she agrees then you could get a binding agreement. Or work with the school. So if dad signed the enrollment forms and the mum didn't then he is making himself laible for the debt. But it will only work if mum agrees

 

[JadeGoldCoast]

So plot twist, I re-read through my partner's orders last night and there is no order relating to the child's schooling. There was a previous order that has since been dismissed.
The mother is currently refusing to pay for the child's state school fees. My partner is paying a couple of hundred in child support per week and does not really want to pay twice for a school he doesn't want the child attending.
We have suggested to the mother that if she does not wish to pay the school fees then perhaps we could discuss the child attending private school starting next year. The mother has replied childishly as expected.

Currently the child is living with his maternal grandmother and is dropped off/collected from school by his maternal grandmother when she collects her own young children from the same school. We are concerned the mother only wants the child to attend this school as it suits her current situation of living with her new partner while the maternal grandmother raises the child.

We're not sure we want to rock the boat and start the whole mediation/court thing again as we only acquired final orders in April. If down the line we do decide to start this process, can anyone offer any advice on how a judge might view our request? As the mother might suggest it is impossible for her to get the child to the new school. The new school however is actually 15 minutes closer to the maternal grandmother's home, cannot comment on the distance from the mother's home as we do not know where she lives.

 

[Tremaine]

What did you end up with in final orders? Is the child meant to be living with the grandmother?

 

[JadeGoldCoast]

Orders are to work up to 50/50 between mother and father. We informed the courts that the child was not living with the mother but it was our word against hers and she was informing the courts that the child was living with her.
No orders for child to live with maternal grandmother. From what we can work out there is no room for the child to sleep at the mothers and partners home (hes started having a 1 night sleepover at theirs per fortnight and says he sleeps on the floor in their room) so he shares a room with his 3 uncles at the maternal grandmothers home instead.

 

[hshkara]

Is there an order for equal and shared parental responsibility? If there is, then both parties must agree on any decisions in relation to the schooling of the child.