FAFSA custodial question..

Paying for College
1

<p>How thoroughly do colleges and financial aid institutions verify the
custodial parent section of the FAFSA? The Expected Family
Contribution (EFC) is based on the data provided by the custodial
parent.</p>

<p>My ex-wife and I both ran the numbers for the EFC, and if I am
considered the custodial parent, our EFC is $23,000, but if she is
considered the custodial parent, our EFC is $5,000. Big difference.
Our daughter lived with me most of the past year, and I am the legal
custodial parent, but I am not a wealthy person by any means, and
contributing 23K per year is not remotely possible.</p>

<p>I would like to let my ex-wife claim my
daughter on her tax forms next year if we could use her financial
income for the FAFSA.</p>

<p>Putting aside questions of ethics, fairness, legality and the like, if
we used the lower income on the FAFSA, do they cross-check that with
where the child attended school or require some sort of proof of
residence, or will it simply be enough that the "custodial parent"
listed on the FAFSA matches the parent who claimed the child as a
dependent for that year?</p>

<p>I found that on yahoo answers and I think it's an interesting question.</p>

2

<p>You can certainly try that but be prepared to lose all aid and risk Federal charges. The following is information I found on-line.</p>

<p>If you lie on the form, you will get caught, says Kantrowitz. The government selects 30 percent of all FAFSAs for a verification process that entails supplying the financial aid office with copies of all the documents you used in completing the FAFSA, including 1099s, W-2s, income tax returns, bank and brokerage statements. The US Department of Education is in the process of implementing an automated data match with the IRS. If you are caught, it's not only $20,000 in fines and possible jail time; you'll also have to return any aid you have received.</p>

<p>This will also impact your child depending on when this error is discovered as they may have accepted at a more expensive college that now you can't pay for and declined all other offers.</p>

<p>Hope this helps</p>

3

<p>All of the documentation would be perfectly correct, it's just how they check who gives the most support to the child.</p>

4

<p>For FAFSA who claims the child for taxes is irrelevant. It is the custodial parent who has to be listed on FAFSA. A parent claiming to be the custodial parent but having a different address to the child will raise red flags especially if the child attends school in a different area.</p>

<p>For schools that require CSS you will have to report your income (and spouse if there is one) and your ex wifes (and spouse if there is one).</p>

5

<p>You need to be honest.</p>

6

<p>
[quote]
Our daughter lived with me most of the past year, and I am the legal custodial parent, but I am not a wealthy person by any means, and contributing 23K per year is not remotely possible.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Emphasis mine. </p>

<p>Your EFC is 23K.</p>

<p>You and your daughter have choices:</p>

<ul>
<li>your daughter can attend a college that is affordable for your family</li>
</ul>

<p>Actually, that's really the only honest and wise choice. (Surely you don't want to teach your daughter to lie and cheat by doing so yourself, do you? And surely you don't want to jeopardize anyone's financial future by taking on so much debt one of you suffers because of it, right?)</p>

<p>So, how does your daughter attend a college that is affordable for your family?</p>

<ul>
<li><p>She looks for schools that may give her either merit or needs-based aid.</p></li>
<li><p>She looks at in-state public schools.</p></li>
<li><p>She looks to shorten the time spent in a more expensive school by 1.) taking AP classes/self-studying and doing well on AP exams; and/or 2.) satisfying basic college requirements by attending an inexpensive school before transferring to a more expensive school that will give her credit for AP/other college courses.</p></li>
<li><p>She works and saves money for college starting right now, and applies for scholarships available to her.</p></li>
<li><p>If you and/or your ex-wive have been saving for college, don't now begrudge your daughter those funds; use them for their intended purpose.</p></li>
<li><p>You and your ex-wife start looking critically at your spending habits, find places to save money, and put the savings toward college expenses. (Learn to like legumes, if you don't already.)</p></li>
<li><p>Look for reasonable places to borrow reasonable amounts of debt if you can, and that would include Government loans, home equity, and the like. What is "reasonable" to you, your ex-wife, and your daughter is up to you each to decide, but many here would caution against any one of you taking on a lot of debt, and "a lot of debt" is something that you will have to talk to your daughter about, because a lot of teenagers don't know what a lot of debt is. (The price of a standard, not fancy car for all four years -- OK. More than that would give me pause. YMMV.)</p></li>
</ul>

<p>Remember that the $23K doesn't need to (and isn't expected to) come all from you. Your daughter contributes to that, and your ex-wife can, too. If your daughter makes $3K/year and borrows $4K/year, that leaves $16K to be covered by you, your ex-wive, scholarships, and financial aid.</p>

7

<p>To the OP: As a Financial Aid Adminstrator, I can assure you that almost every college or university can request verification that proves the person listed on the FAFSA is considered by DOE standards to be the custodial parent. However, I will not specify how they make this determination or how they choose who needs to submit this type of documentation. Realistically, you might "get away with it" the first year...but and this is a guarantee, if your child's FAFSA is every questioned and tey determine the 1st year's FAFSA was not accurate, they can and will disqualify her from ALL federal funding...leaving you and your daughter owing a SUBSTANTIAL amount of money to the institution immediately. The institution can also determine that your daughter is ineligible for any institution aid for as long as she is attending the institution.</p>

<p>Is this really worth trying to find a way to overlook the ethical and moral implications of lying?</p>

8

<p>Your risk of getting caught is very high. The fact that you are the legal custodial parent means there is a big paper trail.</p>

9

<p>If the money is critical, why not let your D graduate and then move in with her mom, either work or attend CC and let your wife honestly be the custodial parent for the next year?</p>