Let’s assume that in the separation agreement you and your former spouse signed, each of you agreed to contribute to the costs of your child’s college education. When the time comes for your child to register for college, though, one of you is unable to come up with the necessary money. While there are cases where this is a deliberate subterfuge, many times an errant parent situation is a matter of circumstance rather than of deceit. Health problems may have drained the person of resources. He or she may have had set college money aside in what everyone thought was a solid investment, just to see it plummet. Or he or she may have been laid off and unable to find a new position quickly, thus depleting funds for daily living.

In addition to the standard financing ideas, here are some possible solutions specifically for stepfamilies.

. If you and your ex-spouse own any property together, (either the house one of you is living in or something else,) the one with the money can assume the entire financial responsibility for college expenses. Then, when the jointly owned property is sold, the tuition money that was advanced is taken out of the share that’s supposed to go to the other parent.
. If the financial problems are expected to be short-lived and the relationship between the former spouses is civil, the parent with the money can make a formalized, short-term loan to the parent unable to pay with interest or interest-free.
. Your child can apply for financial aid or take out a loan for the portion one of the parents can’t pay. That parent then agrees to help payoff the loan after graduation.
. If your new spouse is able to and has a good relationship with your child, he or she might be very amenable to helping out with finances.
. You, your child, your new spouse, or your ex-spouse might also ask grandparents if they could help, either providing funds outright or giving them as an “advance” on an inheritance.

Patricia Schiff Estess, author of “Money Advice for Your Successful Remarriage” (ASJA Press, 2000). She serves on the SAA Board of Directors. For more information, contact her at: pgestess@aol.com