My parents were never married and separated when I was very young. I haven’t had any communication with my mom since I was 13. I always just assumed both my Dad and Mom had custody. I’ve come now to realize this isn’t the case. My dad never took my mom to court for custody (because he’s lazy), and now I’m worried about what I should do in my situation. I’m 18 so can I just mark my Dad down as my custodial parent on my Financial Aid documents? For schools that require CSS can I just say my Mom doesn’t have custody? My biggest fear is that courts wouldn’t take my case because I can’t find my Mom. Or that the case will take so long I won’t be able to RD (I realize now it’s probably too late to ED/EA). I’m a first gen student from a HS in a poor neighborhood, so the college application process is very new to me. If anyone can give me any advice I’d appreciate it.
You may want to read http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/2083835-faq-divorced-parents-financial-aid-and-net-price-calculators.html for background information on the divorced parent situation.
For FAFSA purposes, the custodial parent is the parent you lived with the greater amount of time during the past 12 months: https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/fafsa/filling-out/parent-info#divorced-separated-living-apart
CSS Profile appears to have a similar definition: https://learn.collegeboard.org/css-profile-overview/16/
For FA purposes who you live with more than 50% is your custodial parent and that is very clear. Don’t worry about court documents for this. You do need your dad to fill out FAFSA.
What you need to find out from each school is are they FAFSA only or do they want CSS or other forms. If the latter you need to check on their waiver procedure. Sometimes they will accept a form from your school or your religious institution attesting that the other parent has no contact with you/school/etc.
You say this about the man who raised you alone for the past 5 years?
@BadFAsituation: Relax. No need for court involvement that I can see. Contact the financial aid offices at the schools to which you intend to apply. Tell them your situation & your concerns. They should help. Good luck to you !
If you haven’t lived with your mother for the past 12 months, she’s not your custodial parent for financial aid purposes.
To TomSrOfBoston I lived between him, my grandparents, and my uncle. I think he would also admit himself that him not taking my Mom to court way laziness.
ucbalumnus Thank you think is a big relief.
Ma2012 Thank you!
BelKnapPoint Thanks!
For FAFSA, you will just use your DAD…as he is your custodial parent for FAFSA purposes. If he is remarried…his spouse will need to be included as well.
You mention Profile schools. If the colleges you apply to require the non-custodial parent Profile, you will need to apply for a waiver to NOT submit that. You will need to contact each college for their waiver submission requirements…and submit them.