Joseph:
You wrote: “Why if divorced should a parent be forced to pay for that if he/she wouldn’t have been had the parents remained married to each other?”
Excellent question.
When this child will need funding for college and legal expenses, the divorced parents will play hot potato. They might be agreeable and on the same page that the expenses should be covered. But each will volley the burden to the other. And without an agreement, it will never end. The married parents (assuming a healthy relationship) who will agree have joint funds, and will make their decision on feasibility, not whether they agreed only if the other could pick up the tab. It is not about making a chiddush for divorced parents. It is about preventing a problem for the kid pursuing his career and family.