<p>Hi, I'm new here and just getting the hang of things with financial aid... My daughter lives half-time with her dad (remarried) and half time with me (domestically partnered). Even though we were never married, we have always shared all expenses for her evenly. Now that college is coming along, her dad has significantly more assets and higher income (than me) and his wife also has assets. Together the two of them are worth considerably more than me and my partner. Based on my (our) financial picture, she would surely receive aid, but if her other half is considered, we would be out of luck. Can schools ask her bio parents to pay separate amounts based on their individual financial pictures? Are step-parents finances considered as well? Thanks.</p>
<p>If your child applies to a FAFSA only school…only YOUR income and assets (and hers) will be listed on the FAFSA…not your domestic partner and not her dad’s. The FAFSA requires information from the custodial parent only so if your daughter lives with you…your info would go on the FAFSA. Your EFC (family contribution) will be based on your income/assets only.</p>
<p>BUT if your daughter applies to a school that requires the Profile, that school might also require the non-custodial parent profile form as well. YOU would complete the regular Profile with only your information as you are not married. Your daughter’s father would then complete the non-custodial parent Profile using his and his wife’s income and asset information. The family contribution at Profile schools that require the non-custodial parent info will be based on your income and assets AND your former husband and his wife’s income and assets. All of them.</p>
<p>The college(s) will compute a family contribution. The do not care who sends what amount. That is between you and your former husband. The colleges will send ONE bill…not one part to you based on your income and another to your former husband. </p>
<p>You and your former husband will have to figure out who is paying what amounts…not the college(s).</p>
<p>Even if you are not married, some schools on the CSS Profile will ask if you live with someone else who is contributing to the household! I have seen this asked! It would certainly not be in your best interests to lie about it, especially if your mortage payments or rent payments do not make any sense, compared with your income. Yes, the private schools do pry a lot more if they require the CSS Profile, so be prepared for that!</p>
<p>Even if you are not married, some schools on the CSS Profile will ask if you live with someone else who is contributing to the household! I have seen this asked!</p>
<p>That makes sense because if two working adults are living in the household then the “single parent” is not paying for all household expenses.</p>
<p>Thanks for the responses! I am not the custodial parent. My daughter lives half time with me and half time with her dad, so, even on the FAFSA, I guess we’d have to report both our incomes/info. And as for the other form, I would imagine that a domestic partner would count the same as a married partner, as the role of domestic partner is ‘to share household expenses’. That means all 4 of us would be in the game!</p>
<p>If you are divorced you don’t report both household’s income on FAFSA. Usually it is the parent with whom the student lives more. If the student does not spend more time with one than the other, then it is the parent who provides the most financial support. </p>
<p>The often repeated statement (including by me) on CC was that if neither parent provides more support, then the parent with the higher income is reported on FAFSA. But we are not sure where that came from, it does not say so on FAFSA. In reality it is unlikely that the time is spent exactly evenly, except in a leap year maybe.</p>
<p>Only the custodial parent, and that parent’s spouse (if any) report their financial information on FAFSA.</p>
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<p>[FinAid</a> | Answering Your Questions | Divorce and Financial Aid](<a href=“http://www.finaid.org/questions/divorce.phtml]FinAid”>http://www.finaid.org/questions/divorce.phtml)</p>
<p>OK thanks for all the details. It looks like it’s still a questionable situation when things are split 50/50. Vballmom has a quote suggesting it is the parent with the higher income (criterion #7), but there is no source for that quote as far as I can tell.</p>
<p>Stariel, what vball mom gave you is a summary of the “pecking order” used for divorced/separated parents to determine which parent should file FAFSA. You can find the same info in the FAFSA instructions. No one actually splits custody evenly…there are an odd number of nights in a year. The first criteria is where the child lived more than half of the year. If you can figure that out, you don’t need to go farther down the list.</p>
<p>Following are two quotes from the Dept of Ed’s Federal Student Aid Handbook:</p>
<p>Divorce of the student’s parents
If the student’s parents are divorced, he should report the information of the parent with whom he lived longer during the twelve months prior to the date he completes the application, regardless of which parent claimed him as an exemption for tax purposes. If the student lived equally with each parent or didn’t live with either one, then he should provide the information for the parent from whom he received more financial support or the one from whom he received more support the last calendar year for which it was given. Note that it is not typical that a student will live with or receive support from both parents exactly equally. Usually you can determine that the student lived with one of the parents more than half the year or that he received more than half support from one of the parents.</p>
<p>Divorce example
Marta is 22 and doesn’t meet any of the independence criteria. Her parents divorced recently, and she hasn’t lived with them since she was 18. Also, neither parent provided support in the past year. The last time she received support from her parents was when she lived with them and they were still married. Because her father’s income was larger and he contributed more money to the overall household expenses, Marta determines that the last time she received support, most of it was from her father. She provides his data on the FAFSA.</p>
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