hello, i am a senior in high school who is applying to colleges and filling out financial aid forms now. i am one of 3 children of a single mother, havent had contact with my father in years. i was wondering if there was any way to er… notify the financial aid people that i have a parent who is supposed to pay child support but doesnt (he owes us almost half a million dollars by now), and also he is supposed to pay for half of my tuition as per the divorce agreement but of course thats kind of laughable as he hasnt paid anything he was supposed to. we dont really know where he is but we assume that he is working for cash somewhere, as any wages that he made would be garnished by the government to pay for child support (if i understand correctly?). i feel like this is pretty significant in understanding my financial situation so uh, yeah, can i give colleges this information somehow when applying for aid?
I think I saw something on either the common app or Fafsa application that leaves room for explanation of special financial circumstances.
Call and ask. There is a process for this.
A lawyer can run a routine background check on your dad-- if he’s got a driver’s license, has cable TV, signed a lease, bought a car, gotten a speeding ticket, bought a TV with an extended warranty, etc. he is likely to pop up in somebody’s database even if he’s getting paid in cash and not paying taxes. it is very, very hard to disappear these days. There is even a nifty database which will tell you if he’s deceased (used by banks and hospitals to prevent fraud-- it’s a very common thing which criminals try to do by using information belonging to someone who has passed.)
It might be worth a few hundred dollars to try to find him, especially if he owes your mom half a million dollars.
It is very hard to disappear.
FAFSA is based on your custodial parent, whom you lived with more in the previous 365 days before submitting the form. It would just ask for your mom’s information.
For a school that requires CSS profile and non custodial parent profile, you might have to inquire about a waiver for the non custodial parent information.
Has your mom pursued collecting back child support from your father through official channels? Do you think he might have a driver’s license? Maybe he could be found that way?
If/when you make an inquiry, say that you want to do a “skip trace.”
I have a colleague who found her deadbeat ex via a credit check- he couldn’t resist getting a free phone by switching cell providers so he popped up with a current address even when all else had failed!
On the FAFSA, it will ask for only your mother’s income and assets. It will also ask for any child support received, and that answer will be $0.
For the CSS, you will have to request a non-custodial parent waiver for those schools that require the NCP’s financial information.
I disagree with the others. You might be better off not locating your father. If he owes over $500k in back child support, his yearly responsibility was probably over $50k per year, which meant he was making a lot of money. If you find him, I really doubt he’ll just hand your mother $500k but the schools might then consider his income and assets as available for your education even if he doesn’t pay. If the school won’t give you a NCP waiver, it’s unlikely you can go to that school because either a) your father won’t fill out the forms or b) he fills them out, his income is counted in your financial aid calculations, and he then won’t pay. No win.
I think a FAFSA only school will be best for you. Can you get big merit money somewhere?
well, im pretty sure his drivers license has been taken away due to not paying child support (though i expect he probably drives anyway as he considers himself above the law, lmao) i think im better off not locating him as theres no way hes going to help pay and i dont want to open that can of worms, but i was just wondering if schools would take into account the “deadbeat dad” factor when calculating my financial need. i dont think i can get merit money either as my gpa is only an 86, sat 1460
SAT 1460/1600?
What schools are you looking at? If FAFSA only, then his information is not going to matter. They will evaluate your aid based on what you have, not on what you should have received if your father paid.
OP- I’m sorry you have a tough situation here.
yeah 1460/1600, and im looking at bennington, middlebury, nyu, stony brook and new paltz
That’s a great score! congrats. Have a look here too http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/52133-schools-known-for-good-merit-aid.html
Focusing on merit would be better, since you don’t know if the schools that require NCP profile will grant you a waiver.
NYU is not known for generous aid and very expensive.