Can you contract with adult child for share of future earnings in exchange for tuition assistance?

Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:I don't get the outrage. If my son was accepted at Virginia Tech, but wanted to attend Tulane instead, fine but I'm not paying the $20k delta.


Ah - one of those types of parents. No wonder you don't get the outrage.
Anonymous
Typical in our family is to pass it down as our parents did for us. But if the parents needed it, of course. No contract, though.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:That's my question. Say, an adult child wants tuition assistance. Can I as a parent make a legal contract to provide the assistance in exchange for a share of his future earnings?


No, but you can give a child a loan for tuition and expect to be paid back when he/she is working.
Anonymous
Yes you can. Upstart.com

Anonymous
This happens informally in many cultures. I don't think it's a bad idea to talk more frankly about expectations from the beginning.

By way of example, DH (who happens to be Hispanic) had most of his education paid for by his father. Just as DH was graduating from graduate school, his family calls and says his father has no money. It turns out he gave DH too much and made some poor financial decisions. DH and I were newly married and just starting our careers. We were expected to send a check every month. Some of his siblings complained we should've sent more than we were, since DH's education cost the most.

This was a huge stress for us. I'd ask him for how long is this going to last. He'd state they never talked about money in his family. People just paid as they could. I grew up in the US with parents who are accountants. The whole situation seemed so irresponsible to me. We'd both have preferred DH's dad to have saved his money if he needed it for himself.
Anonymous
Omg. Just omg.

Maybe I should start keeping tabs on diaper changes and meals and present my kids with bills when I kick them out of the nest.
Anonymous
If you are talking about an 18-21 year old, that's a kid. Older than that, and they should foot the bill themselves unless the parents have money to spare.
Anonymous
OP, if I were your child, I would prefer that you loaned me the money at a market interest rate, which would still be below what the government/private lenders would charge. You could draw up a promissary note that stated that monthly payments including interest accrued could commence at X months after I secured my first full-time position. I would not want you to take a share of my future earnings once i paid off the loan. That is greedy. My parents did this to help me on a down payment for a home and it was a win-win situation.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I don't get the outrage. If my son was accepted at Virginia Tech, but wanted to attend Tulane instead, fine but I'm not paying the $20k delta.


Ah - one of those types of parents. No wonder you don't get the outrage.


I don't get the outrage. Normally the kid would just borrow the difference. i.e., I tell my kids I will pay X dollars a year on college. basically the amount for a good in-state option (UVA, W&M, VT). If they choose to go private elsewhere, fine, but they borrow the difference. so I guess here, the money is borrowed from a parent instead of a third party.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:Omg. Just omg.

Maybe I should start keeping tabs on diaper changes and meals and present my kids with bills when I kick them out of the nest.


I charge $2 for a pee diaper and $5 for a shitty diaper.
Anonymous
My family does interest-free loans (not on education, however - that is paid for by the parent).
Anonymous
I don't get the outrage either and my *white* parents paid my education in full and were poor and proud to do it and now scoff at the idea of me even buying them breakfast. I don't get the racist remarks here.

However, I am thinking of my cousin, who starts/quits a things all the time. Took 12 years to finish college. I could see him asking his parents for a $50k degree and not blinking. For someone like that I'd love to see them put it to him and say "sure, but we get X% of what you make in that career."
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