When your child is homeschooled and you are in the throes of separating from your spouse, the logistics of how this is managed can grow very quickly. Home education is highly personal, and often built around a parent’s teaching style, the family’s daily rhythms, and the home environment itself. When that foundation is turned on its head through separation or divorce, the knock-on effects can be profound for both the child and the adults involved.

This article explores the practical and legal complications that can arise when divorcing parents have a homeschooled child, and how family law approaches disputes about how and where a child should be educated. It also looks at how homeschooling affects child arrangements, financial considerations, and the child’s overall wellbeing during what may already be an emotionally difficult time.

Who decides a child’s education after divorce?

In England and Wales, parents with parental responsibility have a legal say in major decisions about their child’s upbringing, including their education. That means home education cannot continue, or be stopped, unless both parents with parental responsibility agree.

During a relationship, these decisions may happen naturally. After separation, however, disagreements become far more common. One parent may want the child to remain homeschooled, while the other may feel a state or independent school offers greater long-term stability.

If the parents cannot reach a joint decision, the dispute can end up before the family court, resolved through:

  • Specific Issue Orders: Used when parents cannot agree on a particular matter, such as whether the child should be home educated or attend school.
  • Prohibited Steps Orders: Used to stop a parent from making a unilateral decision, such as enrolling the child in school without consent.

The child’s welfare is the court’s paramount consideration, and will look at:

  • The child’s educational needs
  • Their social and emotional development
  • Their daily routine and sense of stability
  • Each parent’s ability to meet their needs
  • Any safeguarding concerns
  • The likely impact of changing or maintaining the status quo

Family courts are generally cautious about disrupting a child’s education unless there is clear evidence that change is needed, but they will not automatically favour home education simply because it is already in place.

What happens when homeschooling takes place in the family home?

Many home-educating families rely heavily on the stability of the home environment, with the kitchen often doubling as a classroom. A bedroom might store educational resources, and daily learning may involve the garden, shared living spaces, or specific equipment.

If the teaching parent remains in the home, but the non-teaching parent believes the child needs a fresh start in school, the court will consider whether homeschooling can realistically continue. If the home environment remains stable and the teaching parent can still provide education safely and effectively, the court may decide continuity is best.

But what if the teaching parent is the one who must leave the family home? This is more complicated. A new home may be smaller or temporary, lacking the space, resources or quiet required for structured learning. If homeschooling cannot continue effectively, the court may consider school placement is the better option.

Perhaps the family home must be sold. If neither parent can replicate the existing home-education environment, the court will focus on what arrangement best meets the child’s welfare needs going forward. School may be seen as providing stability when the child’s domestic situation is in flux.

When one parent has always homeschooled for free—can they now be paid?

Home education is a parental choice, not a form of employment. The teaching parent is not legally entitled to be paid by the other parent simply because they are providing education. However, financial implications may arise indirectly, for example, the homeschooling parent may need higher levels of child maintenance because they have reduced earning capacity. Here, they may request spousal maintenance if their ability to work was limited by the agreed homeschooling arrangement. In addition, costs relating to educational materials, tutoring or activities may need to be shared.

The court does not treat homeschooling as a job, but it will consider:

  • Whether the homeschooling parent is at a financial disadvantage because of years spent out of the workplace
  • Whether continuing homeschooling is financially viable post-separation
  • Whether the child would be better supported if both parents worked and school was used instead

As you can see, it becomes an all-inclusive assessment centred on fairness and the child’s needs, rather than payment for teaching hours.

Does homeschooling count as contact time?

A common point of tension is whether the homeschooling parent is effectively having extra contact with the child.

From a legal perspective, homeschooling is not automatically treated as contact time, but the reality is more nuanced.

If learning takes place during the day at the teaching parent’s home, the court may view that as part of the child’s normal weekly routine rather than contact. However, if the teaching parent argues that the time spent together is, effectively, extended parenting time, the court may need to examine:

  • How structured the learning is
  • Whether it prevents the other parent from having meaningful weekday contact
  • Whether schooling arrangements are being used to limit the other parent’s involvement

The family courts will prioritise the child’s relationship with both parents and may structure learning so that each parent can have involvement, for example:

  • Sharing the teaching
  • Dividing subjects
  • Alternating weekdays
  • Setting up online or remote learning on certain days
  • Ensuring that education does not unduly reduce the child’s time with the non-teaching parent

Ultimately, the court will try to tailor the arrangement to serve the child’s best interests, not parental preferences.

What if one parent now wants the child in a mainstream school?

This is one of the most common post-separation disputes in home-educating families.

Reasons a parent may seek school placement include:

  • Concern that the other parent is struggling with the workload
  • Belief that school offers structure after the chaos of divorce
  • Worries about socialisation
  • Practical reality, the homeschooling parent needs to return to work
  • A desire for greater oversight or consistency

The court does not assume school is better or that home education is inferior. It looks at what will meet this child’s needs at that moment in time.

Divorcing when your child is homeschooled introduces a unique layer of complexity into an already emotional process. From living-arrangement upheaval to disagreements about educational direction, parents often find themselves navigating unfamiliar and sensitive territory. Although family law offers a framework for resolving disputes, ultimately each case is decided on the child’s welfare, practical realities and the ability of parents to communicate constructively.