## Facts

- Susan Barrett (mother) and John Coyne (father) divorced in Pennsylvania and agreed to joint legal custody of their two daughters, Kathryn and Jacqueline; Barrett had primary custody, and Coyne was ordered to pay child support.
- After the divorce, Barrett moved with the children to New Hampshire.
- Barrett enrolled Kathryn in the Tilton School, a private high school, stating that Kathryn would benefit from a more structured learning setting.
- Coyne supplied his financial information to Tilton as part of the school’s financial-aid process, but Kathryn did not receive financial aid.
- As tuition and related expenses increased Barrett’s financial strain, she asked Coyne to contribute to the Tilton expenses; Coyne refused beyond his existing child-support obligation.
- Barrett filed a motion in New Hampshire trial court requesting an order requiring Coyne to pay some portion of Kathryn’s private-school tuition.
- The trial court initially ruled that Coyne lacked the ability to pay any amount toward Kathryn’s senior-year tuition.
- On Barrett’s motion for reconsideration, the trial court reassessed Coyne’s finances, included income from Coyne’s current wife in its ability-to-pay analysis, and ordered Coyne to pay $8,000 toward Kathryn’s tuition.
- Coyne appealed the $8,000 tuition order.

## Issues

1. May a court consider the income of a parent’s current spouse when determining the parent’s ability to pay an additional child-support-related obligation such as private-school tuition?
2. Did the trial court act within its authority and discretion in ordering the father to contribute $8,000 toward the child’s private-school senior-year tuition under these circumstances?

## Decision

- The Supreme Court of New Hampshire affirmed the trial court’s order requiring Coyne to pay $8,000 toward Kathryn’s Tilton tuition.
- The court upheld the trial court’s consideration of Coyne’s household financial circumstances, including the income of Coyne’s current wife, for the limited purpose of evaluating Coyne’s ability to pay.
- The court treated the analysis as an assessment of Coyne’s ability to contribute given his financial situation after remarriage, not as the imposition of a separate support duty on the new spouse.
- The court concluded that ordering a partial contribution toward private-school tuition was within the trial court’s discretion on the record presented.

## Legal Principles

- A family court has discretion to address child-related educational expenses as part of child support when the circumstances justify the expense and the contributing parent has the ability to pay.
- In evaluating a parent’s ability to pay, a court may look to the parent’s actual financial situation, which can include the economic effects of remarriage and household finances.
- Considering a new spouse’s income in an ability-to-pay evaluation does not, by itself, create an independent legal obligation for the new spouse to support stepchildren.
- An order requiring a parent to contribute to private-school tuition may be structured as a partial contribution based on the court’s assessment of finances and the child’s educational circumstances.

## Conclusion

In *In re Barrett*, the New Hampshire Supreme Court affirmed an order requiring the father to pay $8,000 toward his daughter’s private-school senior-year tuition, holding that the trial court could consider the financial reality of the father’s remarried household—including his current wife’s income—when determining the father’s ability to pay, while still treating the support obligation as the father’s responsibility rather than the new spouse’s.


In re Barrett, 841 A.2d 74 (2004)