<p>My oldest child is a high school senior, and so I'm just now starting to learn about how to go about the process of applying for financial aid. This site has been really helpful just to browse, and I really appreciate all the information provided by the community as a whole. I have some questions about our particular situation, and I'd really appreciate any additional feedback folks may be able to provide, particularly about whether my understanding of how to do things is correct or not.</p>
<p>Here's our situation. My daughter's mother and I are divorced. I am remarried, but her mother is not remarried. We have joint custody and a timesharing agreement that calls for equal timesharing and a schedule that splits the numbers of days equally over the year. The actual time spent between households is close to 50/50, but we aren't rigid about the schedule. If we actually counted the days my daughter spent at each house over the past year or so, the number of days at her mom's house would be slightly higher. From what I've read in a few different places, under FAFSA's regulations, only her mother should submit financial information to FAFSA (because even a difference of one day at a particular parent's house is determinative). However, to the extent my daughter is seeking financial information from schools also requiring CSS (which she is), I should provide financial information for the CSS Profile. Is that correct?</p>
<p>Second, I was thinking that it would be best for me to go ahead and submit information now based on my most recent tax return (2008), in part because I'm a part owner of a business and the final numbers for each year generally aren't known (at least for tax purposes) until April or even later. I tried to start the CSS Profile process today, but it looks like I may be proceeding on some incorrect assumptions. For one, although it looks like I can theoretically submit my financial information now, it also looks like CSS might require information from the calendar year immediately preceding the year in which financial aid is being sought (i.e. here, 2009 info for 2010-11 school year). Doing that would mean I'd either have to wait until the year is over or would have to estimate my income for the rest of the year. Is this correct, or can I submit now using 2008 information?</p>
<p>Third question. I went to the CSS website earlier today to start the process, but it's not clear to me what online form to use. One option seems to be to open a "Profile" for my daughter and do it there, but then I saw a reference to a different "Noncustodial Parent Profile" (or something like that). In our situation, I'm not sure which direction to go.</p>
<p>Last question. It looks like some schools have additional questions in their "own" CSS Profile. How does that work? Is it all done via the CSS website, or is the additional information requested by each such school later in the process by working with each school individually?</p>
<p>Sorry for the long list of questions, and thanks so much in advance for any information anyone can provide.</p>