2nd Non Custodial Parent Form Waiver?

Paying for College
21

@thumper1 Right…a “random child” couldn’t be on the insurance, but my H’s plan says children and step-children. As long as these two aren’t divorced (separated only), this kid is his stepchild.

And, yes, likely with ACA, “dependency” is no longer required. WE could carry a MARRIED child on H’s policy as long as he/she is under 26. A married child isn’t a dependent…but we could carry him/her on insurance because of ACA. These kids don’t even have to be going to school.

I suspect that the stepdad has a family plan and it doesn’t cost anymore money whether he has 1 kid or 5 kids on the plan. He may have his own bio kids on there, so this step kid is on there for free.

22

Maybe that is why the school is asking about the stepfather income.

The OP needs to contact the school to clarify. Explain that your mom has been separated from her second husband for five years. He is not your biological father. You have already gotten a NCP waiver for your biological father. See what they say.

23

i agree with @‌thumper1

I think the school is confused. They see that some man is providing healthcare and they may be thinking that you do have contact with bio dad.

They probably don’t get many cases where biodad is out of the picture, then stepdad and mom separate, yet stepdad is still providing insurance.

24

My sister was allowed to have her husband’s son, who did not live with them,on her health policy - and that was a long time ago (20 years?). Husband was required to provide health insurance for his son, and was able to do so even if he wasn’t the employee but just the spouse of the employee through my sister. They even got a discount through her employer for son’s daycare before they were even married.

This is not a ‘random person’ but a legal step child, if that status has any legal meaning (it does for ACA, and an employee can keep a step child on his policy to age 26). This isn’t a rare occurrence as a married couple may have children from previous marriages, have children together, all on the same insurance, and then separate. They still need insurance for the children they have together, so it is free to keep the stepchildren on the policy too. These parents are not divorced, so it is probably even more common to have everyone on the same policy.

Not a problem for FAFSA who only cares about the stepfather if they are living in the same house, raises the question for CSS.

25

Of course you can carry stepchildren on your health insurance because there is a legal relationship.

The operative words would be **your married child (biologically or through marriage) ** can be carried on your insurance up to age 26 whether they are single or married. However, if your son got married, you would not be able to carry your DIL on your husband’s policy (she could still be carried on her parent’s plan if she is under 26).

Op states that his/her stepfather carries him/her on stepdad’s health insurance. Although Op does not live with stepdad, the only way that stepdad can carry op is because stepdad is still married to Op’s mom and Op is a legal stepchild. However, if Op’s mom and stepdad were to legally divorce (not simply separate), the parent-child relationship would be severed and Op would/could no longer be considered a dependent and eligible to be on stepdad’s insurance.

While op does not live with stepdad, stepdad is still married to Op’s mom. School probably wants to see to what extent Op’s mom is still “benefitting” from the marriage (op has health insurance which stepdad pays for. School will make determination.

Op will have to gather 3rd party information attesting to relationship between student and stepparent. IF stepdad and mom are legally separated, OP should submit a copy of the separation agreement, which would lay out what stepdad is obligated or agreed to pay or provide.

26

For FAFSA purposes, separated but still married couples are treated as though they are divorced. Though filing separate returns (not married filing separately but totally separate) would likely end any doubt on the matter in the minds of the fin aid officers and carry the weight in a verification, that even is not required. A separate residence and statement that the separation is not merely that but of separate lives is all that is needed. for FAFSA purposes.

But when we come to PROFILE, it’s a whole other things. Individual colleges do not have to go by FAFSA rules and categories.

The mother can reiterate to the financial aid dept that that she and stepdad are separated and give whatever documentation (her tax return with HOH status circled), say that the step dad is in a separate residence and that there are no other benefits except the health insurance that the family is getting, and that stepdad is resisting giving out tax return–that the only reason OP is still on health insurance is because criteria for being on it is met until an actual divorce occurs. School will decide whether to still insist, but with an emphasis that the relationship is indeed severed, they may relent.

I can see where in a separated couple, the health insurance designation is not changed–the step dad might not even have figured out that he is still paying for the coverage of his steps. My friend was her her ex’s insuarance (not legally once the divorce was done) for years as he never bothered to change the designation.

27

@sybbie. I totally agree with you. There. Is a relationship…and the college’s want to see the extent of that relationship. This is not some random relationship…and the parents are still married and the health insurance is allowed to be in place. The school wants to know the whole story.

So back to my first response on this thread.

You need to contact the school. Find out exactly what they want for this non-custodial parent waiver. Then send it in. The school might grant it…and they might not. It’s up to the school to make this determination.

This is a Profile School, as noted above…and the school might want the info from both parent and stepparent.

28

I’m having trouble seeing why the school would care that mother and stepfather are separated. If they demand the NCP’s spouse’s information if the NCP is remarried, regardless of whether the NCP’s new spouse has even met the child, then they seem likely to want the custodian’s spouse’s info, too, regardless of separation.

From the point of view of the school, they are looking for all possible sources of money that they can say the student can draw on. Any legal stepparent is considered fair game to them, period. The fact that the stepparent is providing any kind of support at all, even just health insurance, is evidence that that stepparent’s income is fair game to draw on for paying their bill.

I sympathize with people caught in this trap, but it is definitely a trap set up to prevent people like the OP’s stepfather from escaping without paying.

29

@FCCDAD‌ Typically when a bio parent separates from a stepparent, schools are “hands off” for a couple of reasons…

the step is no longer contributing to household expenses…the married couple have gone their separate ways.
the step isn’t likely going to contribute to the student’s expenses because the marriage is ending.

This is very different from when the step is living IN the custodial household.
and it’s very different from bio parents separating

30

For FAFSA purposes, once a parent, step or otherwise, is separated from the custodial parent, then that parent is not in the picture. For CSS PROFILE, anything goes, but from what I have seen, once a step parent is divorced from the student’s parent, he is out out of the picture completely and is NOT a NCP. This is the first I’ve ever heard of a NCP needed for a step parent who is separated or divorced. The issue is that the step father is contributing to the support of the student in that he is providing health insurance for him. Strictly speaking any funds given directly to the student or to his support is supposed to be reported on fin aid forms, but it just isn’t done most of the time. Interesting that the question is even there about the insurance.

The student and/or his parent should get in touch with a fin aid officer, not support help in the fin aid office, but an officer,explain the situation and see if the waiver and tax return can’t be waived. It is highly likely that a step parent simply refuse to turn over a tax return for an ex step kid that he doesn’t have to provide. So I guess the official waiver might be the way one has to go if that is the precedent of that school’s fin aid office to ask for one.

31

Actually, I believe that bills paid on behalf of the student must be reported. So if the health insurance policy was in the student name, and someone else pays the bill…that is paying on the student’s behalf. But if the student is included in a family plan…that actually is in the name of the step parent, I’m not sure that is considered being paid on behalf of the child. Otherwise…all of us who had family plans would have needed to include this…and we did not.

It’s sort of like cell phones. If your kid has their own account, and you pay it…that is paying on the kid’s behalf. If it’s a family plan…nope.

This is an odd situation. I asked earlier if really a student could actually have more than one custodial parent…and I was told,yes. But I find that difficult to believe.

Say a mom got divorced three times. 1st spouse is the bio dad. 2nd spouse pays for the house they reside in. 3rd spouse…now out of the picture too…maintains health insurance. Would this hypothetical kid have three NCP?

This family is in an odd situation. Mom and step dad have been separated for a long time. Why? School probably wants to know too? Was this for financial aid gain? Or what?

32

@mom2collegekids‌ "@FCCDAD‌ Typically when a bio parent separates from a stepparent, schools are “hands off” for a couple of reasons…

the step is no longer contributing to household expenses…the married couple have gone their separate ways.
the step isn’t likely going to contribute to the student’s expenses because the marriage is ending.

This is very different from when the step is living IN the custodial household.
and it’s very different from bio parents separating."

You mistake my question.
I am NCP. CSS NCP Profile schools require my wife’s financial information, even though she has never been part of a custodial household with D1, and in fact they do not require that she ever even have met D1 at all.

The question is how they can hold NCP stepparent to one standard, and hold the costodian’s spouse, who lived in the same household and is still in some part providing direct support to the child (in the form of health insurance) to a lesser standard?

They are very explicit that the stepparent CANNOT avoid this responsibility in their calculations, not by prenuptial agreement, contract, whatever. They consider the parents to be responsible regardless of marital status, and they consider stepparents to be responsible as well.

Divorce one of the bio parents, and you’re no longer a stepparent, and thus outside their even theoretical reach; the question is why the schools would/should make an exception for a still legally married stepparent, who IS providing support of his/her own legal stepchild, but NOT for a stepparent who never shared a household with or supported the child? Why would they let the custodian’s spouse off the hook, but not the NCP’s?

33

I suppose if the NCP’s spouse and the NCP had separated years ago but not yet divorced, and that step was providing insurance, the situation would be similar.

34

I think this is an unusual situation, and has arisen due to the insurance provided by the step parent. Usually, from what I have seen, a separated step parent is out of the picture for financial aid. I’ve never known one that needed to file a NCP or provide info. Separation is treated as divorce for bio parents, and for consistency sake so should the step parent. A divorced step parent is out of the scope of PROFILE, in the cases I’ve seen.

However, if a parent is getting any support payments,anything from an ex, that would be reportable as income. My guess is that the payment of the insuarance premium is being considered as support, income. I think OP and parent need to run this by the fin aid office.

35

<<<
am NCP. CSS NCP Profile schools require my wife’s financial information, even though she has never been part of a custodial household with D1, and in fact they do not require that she ever even have met D1 at all.


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@FCCDAD‌

I’m really talking about a BIO-parent’s household…whether it’s a NCP or CP household. It doesn’t matter if it’s a CP or NCP household. Since this situation was dealing with a CP household, I was really just addressing that.

YOU are benefited by having your wife’s income. YOU are able to contribute MORE to your child’s education because YOU are not the only one supporting the household. If your wife were to suddenly MOVE OUT, then she would not be part of a bio-parent’s household. There would be NO REASON to ask for your wife’s info if she suddenly moved out of your household.

Do you see the point now?

36

CSS NCP Profile asks if I am remarried. It doesn’t ask if I am separated from my wife. It asks status (married, remarried, or in domestic partnership - they think they have a claim on my wife’s income even if we were NOT married!) and date of our marriage.

Neither I nor my wife live in D1’s household. Yet they still ask our info. Have you not applied to any CSS NCP Profile schools? Perhaps you are not familiar with the NCP form.

I already support D1. I pay her mother, exactly what the law requires, based on my income, and also support D1 directly when she’s with me as well, which the law pretends does not happen. If my wife works, that does not in any way affect the support obligation with regard to D1. D1 is not legally her child. This has nothing to do with whether my wife even has a job or not. No, my wife’s income does not free up anything (other than freeing us from the threat of foreclosure).

There is no provision to withhold my wife’s income information if she suddenly moved out. I just now checked the CSS NCP Profile to be certain of that.

So, no, I do not see your point. You seem to be suggesting that both custodian’s spouse and NCP’s spouse would be excused from providing information if legally separated; I have not found any support for that assertion, but I shall keep looking. Everything I can find indicates that if the bio parents are remarried, each stepparent is required to provide their financial info for CSS Profile or CSS NCP Profile.

Please show where it provides an exemption for either custodial or NCP stepparents, legally married to a parent.

Basically, NCP Profile is a scam, like hitting you up for child support for a child that is not yours and where you have no parental rights.

But if you have found a loophole that lets stepparents (or at least, stepparents not living in the custodian’s household) off the hook, please share the details.

37

So if a (non-bio) spouse of a CP or a NCP were to “suddenly” move out, that spouse’s financials would not be required on either Profile or NCP Profile? Could that spouse “suddenly” move out on Monday, the form is filed on Tuesday without the spouse’s information, and then there’s a reconciliation and the spouse “suddenly” move back in on Wednesday?

38

<<<<
Neither I nor my wife live in D1’s household. Yet they still ask our info. Have you not applied to any CSS NCP Profile schools? Perhaps you are not familiar with the NCP form.
<<<<

Of course I’m familiar with the situation.

I know that you both don’t live in the D1 household. That isnt the point. The point is you are her bio dad, and you live with your wife. If your wife moved out and you became separated, then you should not be expected to include her financials. You would file as single, since they don’t have a separated/divorced option.

NCP Profile is not a scam. If YOUR CHILD is asking for another entity to help pay for her schooling they have the right to check to see if her bio parents’ households can FIRST PAY (btw…that college entity that your child is asking for money is NO RELATION to your child EITHER!!!)

You seem to keep focusing on the child’s household. NO…the focus is on the BIO PARENTS’ households (plural).

39

The language on the CSS PROFILE tends to use divorce/separation as the same. PROFILE is used by schools in many different ways, so how any one or even most schools use the info and where they draw the lines. As a general rule, from what I have been told by a fin aid officer of a PROFILE school, is that the marital status used on FAFSA is the one used for PROFILE since verification of that info is done by using FAFSA IRS retrieval tools or IDOC, all using IRS returns. When the status on the IRS tax return (or other such info) does not match the info on the financial aid application, questions are then asked. So someone who is separated for tax purposes is so verified. However, one does not have to meet IRS definition of separated in order to meet FAFSA’s definition, so that one is not automatically denied separated status if the tax return status does not verify the separation, and additional questions are asked to determine that status. Separated spouses are treated as divorced . In order to get separation status, there has to be a separate address, household, finances and an end of marital relations. That last stipulation can be subject to interpretation.

Any child support and other payments made by the separated spouse to the parent of the student is required to be reported, and shared assets have to be reported to the extent the ownership is of the parent of the student. At this particular school, a NCP form would not be needed for a separated step parent since the separation is deemed the same status as divorce for fin aid purposes. For a bio parent, the NCP PROFILE form would have to be filed.

At a number of schools, the NCP PROFILE form does give the NCP less of a contribution required than the Custodial parent. I saw this personally in several cases. I have a close friend whose student would have no way gotten financial aid from a PROFILE school had she been the custodial or even sole parent, but as the NCP, her son did get a nice piece of financial aid. I’ve seen this several times. Also schools will vary on whether they will hit up a stepparent of a NCP or a stepparent at all, depending on how recent the marriage was.

Just as for tax purposes, it is possible for a spouse to move out for separated status, and lower taxes on last day of the year, and then move back in the next day, yes, it is possible that the same can be done for FAFSA and for PROFILE. Absolutely. There may be 50 ways to leave your lover, but 50,000 ways–,more to lie and cheat on forms, tax, fin aid, any of them. So, yes, a parent, a student can lie about this and play that game, and lie about it as well. For that matter any parents can separate for tax and fin aid purposes, doesn’t have to be the stepparent. I could save a pretty penny on taxes doing that, and really have a second residence at this time to support it. The only problem is that I am, in fact married and consder myself married as does my DH, even if one of us should set up a second home in the other residence. Setting up separate financials would not be difficult; lying about marital state and status is not something we would even contemplate, and it did not come to mind during a time when we were separated for job purposes for a couple of years. Some couples may look at it differntly.

Long post here, that basically comes down to the OP having to talk to the fin aid officer of his/her particular school and find out what they require when the mother is separated from her husband who is the stepfather. I think that this is a step father makes a difference in many situations as to what has to be supplied; whether it will in this case, I don’t know.

40

Of course a child can have two custodial parents - happens all the time when joint custody is awarded. Joint legal custody and either parent can make decisions on education, medical, religion, activities, etc. They can also have joint physical custody with each parent having an equal number of overnights. For tax purposes, the custodial parent is defined as the parent with whom the child spends one more physical night with, or who the court awards the tax benefits (sometimes odd and even year split). FAFSA also has a tie-breaker in that if the parents have equal physical custody, the parent with the higher income is to be used.

My brother and his ex wife have twins. Each is the custodial parent. Each gets one on the taxes.