<p>Curious if anyone else has applied with a divorced non-cooperating spouse or perhaps knows a family in a similar situation. The academic application process itself can be handled fairly independently of the other parent but the financial aid application seems like it would be problematic.</p>
<p>Please note: the child is extremely enthusiastic about the idea of boarding school.</p>
<p>Will an admissions office run from such complications or will they be understanding? Certainly prepared to be honest, transparent, and cooperative with an understanding admissions and financial office.</p>
<p>Would appreciate any thoughts, insights, or opinions from those with experience in these types of complex family situations.</p>
<p>I wound up withdrawing my financial aid application as I was dealing with a non-cooperating spouse who would not provide tax returns etc. My child was accepted at most schools she applied to and we figured out the financial piece. </p>
<p>You can check the web sites of schools in which you are interested to see if they provide any guidance. For example, the financial aid FAQ on the Concord Academy web site discusses this briefly. Basically, if both divorced parents are involved in the life of the student, both parents have to to apply for financial aid. If one parent is not involved at all, they don’t require an FA application from that parent.</p>
<p>I would really love to know how this works too. Son lives with me FT in CA, I have sole physical custody, joint legal (which in NYS means decisions on religion, education and health should be joint. In reality, his dad comes and goes, they have nice visits 3-4 times/year which I facilitate.) He has only rarely provided support, and I long ago gave up on it. I forgave all owed monies when we went back to court for permission to relocate – I had to move to CA for work. He has been doing better lately – has had the same job for nearly 4 yrs now, and has been paying 1/2 of the airfare for son’s visits to him – but his income is low, and I suspect he does not pay income taxes, or file returns. The divorce agreement says he will pay 50% of NYS public college tuition, but I am nearly certain he will not do so, and likely cannot do so. Will I be able to do the FAFSA without his information? Will small private liberal arts schools require his income be considered? How can that happen when I anticipate he both will not and cannot help, and will not give me his tax documents?</p>
<p>I would check with the schools in which your child is applying. I would explain the situation. I have applied to FAFSA for two of my older children and one school needed the NCP piece of FAFSA before making a decision and the other school waived it. Both are NYC schools. That’s been my experience with college. Prep school is different in that the financial aid piece is filed with the application. It’s difficult enough getting accepted to prep schools without having a problem with missing information from the NCP. That is why I decided to withdraw the request for financial aid and figure out some other way to pay. </p>
<p>If there are court papers that indicate one spouse is not contributing, those would be useful. Any documentation of lack of child support would be useful.</p>
<p>NFN, if by “non-cooperating spouse” you mean that the other parent doesn’t want your child to go to boarding school, I’m not sure what you can do. That is especially if there is shared custody and the school is out-of-state.</p>
@admissionmaze this question is about boarding schools and you are really discussing college. Good news though is at the college level for public universities only the primary parent’s income is taken into consideration. You will not even need him to file documents. Google around about the FASFA for divorced families and you’ll see the details. For private universities the rules are determined by the schools themselves.
I can sympathize. Having come this far in the application process, I am still having to send frequent (begging) texts reminding him of the financial aid app deadline. I have NO idea of his income, and have never received a penny of support, but I know any FA will be assessed on him as well as me. He’s said he will not pay towards BS, so the FA decision, if any, will be the deciding factor for attendance - even if we are lucky enough to be offered admission.
I have a friend dealing with this at the college level now. You must separately reach out to each school and explain your individual situation and request a waiver for the non participating parent. this is not given or undertaken lightly, he doesn’t want to pay is not going to be anywhere near good enough. Again, to reiterate, call each school to which you are applying or considering applying and ask. You will not be the first person to have asked this question nor will you be the last.
Divdad. You are right that many public universities only require the FAFSA. But those that do also only give very limited need based aid. There is no FAFSA only college that meets full need. The closest is University of Chicago, but even that school uses their own form to get additional financial information to add to that collected on the FAFSA.
@divdad, I do not know the answer, but conventional wisdom that I have heard is that the school wants to feel that if the student runs into difficulties, that BOTH parents will be giving emotional support. At such a young and vulnerable age, my understanding is that they will want to know the student is well supported- and this has nothing to do with financial support. Sorry, but that is what I have heard. Sometimes conventional wisdom is proven wrong.