VIC Financial and Property Settlement - Costs of Education Considered as Asset?

Australia's #1 for Law
Join 150,000 Australians every month. Ask a question, respond to a question and better understand the law today!
FREE - Join Now
10 March 2017
1
0
1
My wife and I are on the cusp of agreeing to a financial and property settlement after the breakdown of our relationship of 22 years, 17 of them married.

In the last two and a half years of our relationship, my wife stopped working to study. This placed a heavy burden on our financial situation with the result of it diminishing our asset pool considerably.
After graduating and commencing work in her chosen field, she made the decision to separate and end our relationship.

My questions are:

Can the costs of her obtaining her education be considered an asset?

Is there any possibility of me recouping half of the costs of her education, as I will now be unable now to benefit from the investment we made to her education?

Thank you.
 

sammy01

Well-Known Member
27 September 2015
5,152
720
2,894
Probably not - in fact, if there is a debt because of the costs of the education, then that is a shared debt.

But - if she was unqualified / unemployed / or had a significantly smaller earning capacity than you, then that would be grounds for her to get a bigger chunk of the pie...