<p>I'm divorced and my daughter lives with me. If I'm reading all posts correctly, my finances are the ones to be reported on the FAFSA and not her dad's . . . is that correct?</p>
<p>My daughter will be the recipient of his disabled vet college benefits, will this affect the FAFSA? </p>
<p>There are a couple schools on the CSS profile that she's applying to where he and his wife will have to fill out information, otherwise I won't have to share their information will I? They both work and have a good income, however, they do not like her prospective major and will not pay for anything above the disabled college benefits. I know that the FAFSA folks/colleges don't care about that, but I'm the one that will be helping her find scholarships and pay for what I can, not her dad and step-mom.</p>
<p>Your Ex’s income still has to be included on the FAFSA. He is still “responsible” for her and unless he has had all parental rights revoked, etc… his income still counts. I don’t think his wife’s does though or your husband (if you are remarried).</p>
<p>NO NO NO…the custodial parent’s income and assets ONLY are reported on the FAFSA for divorced parents. The non-custodial parent’s income and assets are not reported anywhere on the FAFSA. Support paid to the family is included (I forget which is on the FAFSA…it’s either alimony or child support…but not both).</p>
<p>Anita…maybe you were hearing about the Profile. On the CSS Profile, the custodial parent (and spouse if there is one) is listed. Then there is a non-custodial parent Profile form required by many colleges that use the Profile. This is completed by the non-custodial parent (and spouse if there is one).</p>
<p>For FAFSA…only the custodial parent (and spouse if they have remarried) income and assets are listed.</p>
<p>What does the OP do about the ex-husband’s military education benefits for the D? Do those get counted somewhere? Such as in the area that deal with money coming from elsewhere to pay for college?</p>
<p>The two forms sound familiar. When my niece and nephew filed for FAFSA they went under as independent students (we had legal guardianship), and we had to “prove” their independence. That was a mess and we had to jump through a lot of hoops.</p>
<p>In all of that mess… Dh and I did not give any financial information. But their mother and father were required to give information and neither of them were custodial parents. But we didn’t have any way to give that information. Niece and nephew had to apply for FAFSA through the mail and not electronically because of all that mess. Guess because we had court documents that put the kids under “state ward” status, they were given independent status on FAFSA and the schools.</p>
<p>When I attended financial aid seminars I was told conflicting information. Some said that both parents of child must give financial info (whether married or divorced), and not step parents. Others said only custodial parents (including Dh and I). So that was all so confusing!!! </p>
<p>Finally we just filed and let FAFSA deal with it and prayed real hard!!!</p>
<p>Gee Anita, you got some pretty conflicting information.</p>
<p>I’m hoping someone else reads this to make sure I am accurate in what I am writing!!</p>
<p>For FAFSA, only the custodial parent’s information goes on the FAFSA, not the non-custodial parent (this is for parents who are divorced or separated).</p>
<p>When a student is independent and others are their legal guardians, the students are not supposed to provide ANY PARENT information on the FAFSA. Independent FAFSA students do NOT include parent information (unless they are applying to some law schools). Their parents are not supposed to report at all…if the students are independent for financial aid purposes (not tax purposes…financial aid…two different things). The guardians are not required to provide financial information for these independent students either.</p>
<p>For FAFSA, if the parents are divorced, the custodial parent (and spouse …stepparent…if the custodial parent has remarried) must report their income and assets on the FAFSA. The non-custodial parent does not…nor does the non-custodial parent’s spouse.</p>
<p>NOW…the CSS PROFILE…another whole form…about 300 schools require this form. For divorced parents…the custodial parent (and spouse if there is one) fill out the Profile. The non-custodial parent (and spouse if there is one) fill out the non-custodial parent Profile form.</p>
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<p>I’m a little confused…are you referring to your niece and nephew in the above quote? If so, if they were independent students YOU should not have filled in any information at all on the FAFSA.</p>
<p>Now…the only exception…if parental rights were terminated AND you officially adopted this niece and nephew, I believe you would be considered their parents…and you would put your info on the FAFSA for them. </p>
<p>I believe what I’ve put here is accurate…but I think I must be misunderstanding what you have written!!</p>
<p>Again…perhaps you received information about the FAFSA and the Profile…the folks who report income and assets in the case of divorced parents is different…FAFSA is custodial parent (and spouse) only. Profile…everyone!!</p>
<p>Thumper is right and FAFSA instructions are very clear on who is considered a parent in every situation, including divorce/separation:</p>
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<p>Anita, you don’t mention how long it’s been since your neice/nephew had to file, but it’s possible the rules have changed. Currently, kids who entered guardianship as minors are considered independent for FAFSA and no “parent” info is required. They wouldn’t even see those questions if they answered the qualifying question correctly:</p>
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<p>All of this info is in the FAQ section here:</p>
<p>Both alimony and child support are reported, thumper. You just don’t see any specific question about alimony because it’s also reported as income for tax purposes and so it’s included in AGI. Child support (received) is reported as untaxed income.</p>
<p>If it’s an educational benefit, it does not get reported as income on the FAFSA. There used to be a question that specifically asked about veteran education benefits, the months of entitlement, and monthly amount, but it is not on the current FAFSA forms. But even then, it did not affect the amount of EFC.</p>
<p>Yes it has been awhile since niece/nephew filed FAFSA the first year of school (after that it wasn’t an issue at all). About 7 years for niece and 5 yrs for nephew.</p>