Custodial parent may deny FAFSA/CSS, Non Custodial Parent pops into the scenario

Hi everybody,

Just a quick question. What if my custodial parent denies to do her part of FAFSA and other college forms? I feel CP is already showing signs of that. What are my options then, as parents are divorced and the CP needs to do her FAFSA and CSS but declines to do so?

Also, my NCP has already phoned me 27 times within the last 2 days. I have ignored them. He left a message saying that he wants to talk to me for one last time. But I’m not interested as I feel this is another intentional trick. Will my NCP waiver chances at PROFILE schools hurt now? I haven’t answered the calls.

@GuessME5

If you want need based aid for college, your custodial parent will be required to complete the FAFSA. That parent will alsombe required to complete the Profile if your colleges require the Profile.

There is NO WAY around this if you want institutional aid (per Profile) or federally funded aid (per FAFSA).

If the schools require non-custodial parent Profile info, you will either need to have that completed or get a non-custodial parent waiver.

You would NOT qualify for a dependency override as you LIVE with your custodial parent.

As far as NCPwaiver and “tricks” from what you have written here…the only one doing tricks is you.

@thumper1, thank you for the advice but this last statement was so mean. I just asked a question fearing NCP waiver chances getting hurt, but not intending to do tricks. Maybe I couldn’t convey my statements in these threads properly, which led to your mean comment but you shouldn’t assume things. May I humbly advice you, please show some compassion, view it from the student’s position. Comments like these hurt heavily and are not appreciated, as such complex situations are no joke. You are lucky to not have your kids in my situation, else you would have understood the pain. Hence people misinterpret these questions and doubts as tricks. (And I would never do any tricks that could hurt my NCP waiver chances).

Anyways, thanks for all your advice here! I appreciate your time taken for that.

If your NCP tries to contact you, and you know how to get in touch with him, how will your waiver be approved?
Also, unless you can convince your custodial parent to complete the required forms, you won’t be considered for financial aid. So, keep trying to persuade her, and also look for public school or community college options.

Not answering the phone 27 times because you think it will impact getting a non-custodial parent waiver is playing tricks . Sorry…it is.

Answer the phone. For all you know, your dad has had a change of heart and wants to pay your tuition.

At this point…you bigger issue is that you are saying your mom might not do the financial aid forms for you. Is there a reason for this?

What does she want you to be doing when you graduate frim HS.

@thumper1, I’m not answering the phone as my custodial parent is not allowing me to, not that I want to trick getting his waiver. He has this record of paying for one semester of high school and then being completely out of touch for the next 2 years. I can’t rely on him, even if he changed his heart. His addition will increase the EFC to astronomical levels, which will be a nightmare for me when he escapes in between.

Now this may sound ridiculous but custodial parent and the family at home are at loggerheads and there is hell lot of arguments even as I’m typing this regarding the choice of my major and my career plans. I’m very passionate about finance and business since a very young age and I plan to pursue a career in it. According to them, they think that if I plan to pursue a career in high finance, the FBI, SEC and the Feds will nail me down at some point and be charged with insider trading!!! Now this is something I don’t know how to explain it to them and they aren’t willing to understand. All they want is me to study boring engineering in India and be a simple software engineer. That will not happen, no matter what! They also think that I’m still very young at 18 and not ready to move back and live independently and they fear I’ll be a gun violence victim. Idk why Indian parents threaten kids to pursue only engineering or medicine and are so over protective.

So…you can attend college in India? For an affordable cost?

You know, there are people Who work in finance who have degrees in…engineering.

If your mom won’t complete the FAFSA and your dad won’t complete the Profile and you don’t have proper documentation to work in India because you were born in the US, what is your family’s plan for your future?

Ignoring your dad’s calls doesn’t change the fact that you know how to contact him. I don’t see how you can get a waiver, but if your mom won’t fill out the forms it won’t matter anyway.

@thumper1, the colleges that I liked are costing $16,000 a year, as I’m an international student here. Another one that they planned is 10 miles from my home, a very basic engineering college costing $800 a year, I’ll be staying at home.

I know an engineering degree can also lead to a career in finance but they don’t want me to do anything with that field. Only software engineering. Boring.Not gonna happen.

Also, I think the undergrad here at the near college will be insufficient and not challenging for either an immediate job or grad school in US. Also, most colleges in India have outdated curriculum, no internships or study abroad, rote learning, zero practical ability.

Okay, info that I have gathered here is its going to be compulsory for at least the custodial parent to cooperate with financial aid forms and stuff. Got a very tough negotiation ahead, then.

Thank you all.

If your non-custodial parent is calling you, you don’t have grounds for a NCP waiver. Just because they WON’T pay or are inreliable is not going to get you a waiver.

@intparent, it’s a little upsetting because then every NCP would try calling up after years to screw him/her up in the waiver process. No evil intentions, but how do colleges know if he called me and if so, the number times he called me, etc.? Just curious.

@GuessME5 there is no way around the waiver process. The questions they ask have to be answered truthfully and you will have to provide proof that he is not a part of your life either by lawyer, social worker, minister…etc. not a family member or friend.

Life isn’t fair, but if your CP isn’t willing to provide info for the FAFSA or CSS profile then you will not be considered for any type of aid.

The answer to this is the same as the last time you posted a similar question. You can’t claim you’re not in contact with your dad or say you don’t know how to reach him when you do. I’m sorry he’s unpleasant and unreliable, but I don’t think that’s going to get you a waiver. Colleges can’t afford to pick up the slack for parents who refuse to help pay for their children’s educations.

I think your larger problem is your mom’s inability to fund what you call your American dream. If I remember correctly, she doesn’t work, and funding it would require selling or at least borrowing against the home she and your grandma own. If the only colleges your family can afford are in India, you may not have much of a choice. Why not get a degree there then move to the US?

@austinmshauri, thank you for the advice. Indian schools are my safety options, in case this plan becomes doesn’t pass.

We just worked out available funds and have around $16,500 in liquid form other than the $30,750 primary home equity. Some of our family friends have agreed to line up another $10,000 in form of personal loan without collateral to pay them back once I become net revenue positive.

With help from you all guys, I did build a concrete list of schools that could potentially be under $5,000 a year. I’m also willing to take up more than 15 credits/semester to graduate early, if that’d be possible. With NCP intentionally interfering now all of a sudden, I’ll have to drop the CSS NCP schools.

The bigger problem than funding my American dream is her unwillingness to cooperate on my financial aid forms just because she doesn’t like my choice of major and career field. This is weird, but I’ll try to convince her. After all, supporting me would only improve the current situation. And I need the custodial parent to not act like NCP now and help file the financial aid forms. Seems like there’s no way around that.

Thank you. I appreciate your time taken to advice me.

Is the $16k your mom’s entire savings? If she’s not working, what are you living on? If you have $16k, that’s $4k/year. I don’t think that would cover more than travel to/from school and health insurance. How much does the local school cost? Could you commute to it?

@austinmshauri 11k is grandma savings, 5k is mom’s savings, also has 1.5k parked in a US bank. That is what we’re willing to spend for undergrad right now. There are more (not huge) savings with both of them, but can’t be retrieved for the next 5 years. That’d be for grad school. There is a modest monthly source of income from grandma, which we survive on and bit of mom’s savings. We don’t need to worry about travel expenses, that won’t be on us. I also hope health insurance is optional, even if not, I’ll try to get it covered.

The local school costs a total $800 per year. I could get it to $500 a year as I know the management very well and they like me very much. For most of the colleges in India, you’ll have to live with your parents, there’s no concept of dorms here. So commuting daily would be $350 a year. So maximum $5,000 for 4 years. No meal plan and health insurance costs here.

There’s another local engineering school where I could go for free. These are my safety options.

I did get my main questions answered for which I started this thread. I’m afraid if I discuss more about my schools and finance here, the moderators would close this thread. They won’t understand that all my threads have different and unique questions. They enjoy closing my threads.

Thank you all very much.

@Guessme5, if the $16k is your family’s entire savings, I wouldn’t take it for college. Who’s going to fund your flights to/from the US if not your mom?

Health insurance isn’t optional. At my son’s school it’s $2k/year. It’s good you have financial safeties. You may want to consider attending one and coming to the US for grad school.

Thank you all.