The welfare of children may be undermined when family-law proceedings remain unresolved for prolonged periods. This article develops the welfare-delay paradox to explain how judicial delay can alter the developmental, educational and material circumstances a court must protect. Focusing on child maintenance and education, it examines an anonymised Nigerian proceeding involving four children whose educational circumstances changed substantially while litigation continued. The article adopts a doctrinal, comparative and normative methodology, examining Nigerian law alongside authorities from England and Wales, Scotland and Ireland and international children's-rights standards. It argues that parental financial responsibility should be assessed not only by legal entitlement and parental means, but also by the temporal effectiveness of judicial relief. It proposes early case management, interim maintenance, enforceable educational orders and stronger accountability for delay.