There has been a lot of focus in the press about the forthcoming VAT which will likely be added to school fees from January 2025.  But what are the implications for divorced parents, who have provision for the school fees to be paid within a Sealed Financial Order?

If an Order is in place for the payment of school fees and the paying party fails to make those payments, the order can be enforced through the courts.

However, if there has been a significant change of circumstances and the paying party can satisfy the court that the fees are no longer affordable, the court has the power to vary the existing order. In making that decision, the court will consider factors that have contributed to the change of circumstances, such as illness or loss of employment. It is too early to say whether the court would consider the impact of VAT being added to the fees as a significant factor upon which the order may be varied. A lot would clearly depend on the paying party’s affordability. The court are likely only to enforce a school fees order, if it believes the paying party can afford to continue with those payments, without significantly compromising their own standard of living.

In making a decision, the court would also take into account the needs of the child. In particular, how long they have been in independent education and whether their removal from the school is likely to have an adverse effect on them.  The court would also likely consider any additional educational needs of the child, which are a contributory factor to the benefits of their receiving an independent education.

In the first instance, if you are a paying parent who has concerns over the affordability of a provision within a financial order for the payment of school fees or you are the non-paying parent, who is faced with the school fees no longer being paid, you should obtain specialist advice from a family lawyer.