Mom Loses Court Battle to Make Ex-Husband Pay Half of Daughter's Australia College Bill

A mother in Singapore went to court hoping a judge would order her ex-husband to pay half of their daughter's university costs in Australia. The daughter, who is 22 years old, is studying medicine there — a six-year program that costs more than S$401,000 (about US$310,000). The court had once ordered the father to cover 50 percent of his daughter's school costs, but a Family Court judge ruled that this did not apply to such expensive overseas studies that the father never agreed to.

The parents divorced more than ten years ago. As part of their divorce agreement, the father was ordered to pay S$650 each month for his daughter's needs and to cover 50 percent of her education and medical costs. The mother has been paying for the Australian university on her own and wanted her ex-husband to share those costs.

The father said he never agreed to pay for overseas studies. When his daughter got an offer from an Australian university in September 2023, he told her he was worried the costs were too high. He asked if she could wait to see if she got into a local university in Singapore first, but she and her mother went ahead with the Australia plans anyway.

The total cost of the medicine program — including rent and living expenses — was estimated at about S$11,700 per month. Paying half the school fees alone would have meant the father contributing about S$2,789 every month, which is around 30 percent of his monthly salary of S$9,500. The father said this was simply too much for him to afford.

District Judge Kow Keng Siong said the mother's argument — that the old court order meant the father had to pay half of any school costs no matter what — was not reasonable. He compared it to treating the court order like a 'blank cheque,' meaning unlimited permission to spend. The judge said the law supports a child's right to get a good education, but only within the limits of what counts as reasonable financial support.

The judge gave several reasons for his ruling. First, back in 2012 when the divorce order was made, the daughter was only eight years old, and no one could have predicted she would one day study medicine overseas. Second, paying 30 percent of his salary toward just one expense would place a very heavy burden on the father. The judge also noted that there were cheaper local options, and the father had even offered to use his retirement savings to pay for a local medical program if his daughter re-applied.

The mother asked the court to raise the father's monthly payments from S$650 to S$3,000, saying she had been covering most costs on her own and using credit cards to pay the bills. She said the financial pressure had hurt both her physical and mental health. The father, on the other hand, asked to lower his payments from S$650 to S$400 and reduce his share of school costs from 50 percent to 30 percent.

The judge decided not to raise or lower the S$650 monthly payment. He said the mother's financial stress was mostly caused by her own decision to support the expensive overseas course. As for the father's request to pay less, the judge found that the numbers the father provided did not add up properly, and that no major change in the father's situation had been shown to justify a reduction.

At the end of his ruling, the judge spoke directly to both parents. He told the mother that her love and sacrifice for her daughter were clear, and that his ruling did not erase what she had done. To the father, he said that even though the court did not order him to pay for the Australian course, his daughter still had needs he should think about, and that his actions would be remembered either way.

The judge urged both parents to talk to each other and work together to help their daughter with the years of school still ahead. He reminded them that, beyond all the legal arguments, they are still the parents of a daughter they both love. His closing words called for teamwork and conversation instead of more conflict.