<p>If my parents are divorced, like many others, how do they find out how much they should each contribute? I spend most of my time with my mother, so I guess she is my legal guardian. Do I just fill out the forms based on my mother's finances and divide by two to find the expected contribution of each, or do they need to fill out seperate forms?</p>
<p>Both parents will have to submit their financial information. I don't think you will get any breakdown on how much each should contribute. It will be a dollar figure and then it will be up to them to divide it up.</p>
<p>My ex and I did this for our S for 2007 admission and it went off without a problem. My only suggestion is that you constantly talk to both parents about what you are doing and what information you need from them.</p>
<p>^No, not for FAFSA. This asks for the financial information of the custodial parent and (if relevant), the parent's current spouse. The only way the money of the non-custodial parent is involved as far as FAFSA goes is in any monies paid to the custodial parent (childcare, etc.)</p>
<p>Once EFC is established, how the parents decide to divy it up, or if to do so, or whether either one will pay toward it, this is up to them. The college doesn't care how or if they divide it up; it only establishes that such and such amount is expected to be the family contribution.</p>
<p>getup01</p>
<p>My apologies. garland may be corrct. I went back and the college that S applied to used both FAFSA and PROFILE. I know that S's mom and I both filled out a financial form.</p>
<p>I hope that your parents can work out a split even if only one parent has to turn in the information for FAFSA.</p>
<p>My S attends a school that uses PROFILE. The finaid offer shows separate contributions for custodial and non-custodial parent so we don't even have to discuss it. And it reflects the difference in our incomes. I just send a copy of the finaid offer to my son's non-custodial parent. But I understand not all schools do this.</p>
<p>For the FAFSA- only information from the custodial parent and spouse (if any) are reported. The non-custodial parent does not provide financial information. As noted...child support and alimony may need to be listed on the FAFSA....but not the non-custodial parents income or assets.</p>
<p>PROFILE- Custodial parent and spouse (if any) complete the form. Non-custodial parent and spouse (if any) complete the non-custodial parent form.</p>
<p>The student will receive a finaid package based on the required forms for their school. Beyond that, the colleges do not care where the money comes from. That is up to the families.</p>
<p>Also check college websites. Many have their own financial aid forms in addition to fafsa forms. I noticed that some of them ask for additional info of various parents (custodial, noncustodial, steps).</p>
<p>So let me get this straight. For FAFSA, since it only takes the custodial parent, my parents have to pay less than if they were still married or if they remarried? If so, thats pretty cheap to everyone else, but im not complaining. Because I did a practice run on the calculator thing and got an unexpectedly low expected income for FAFSA just because I only used the custodial parent. What schools use PROFILE, and does it end up being the same expected contributions as FAFSA says?</p>
<p>Public schools tend to use the FAFSA only; privates generally use both (or use FAFSA and their own forms). PROFILE requires the non-custodial parent to disclose his/her assets & income.</p>
<p>No, the EFC with the PROFILE or private forms doesn't come out the same as with FAFSA alone. In fact, colleges consider the assets and income from the PROFILE under their own formulae, and these can vary drastically from school to school. So the FAFSA EFC is only a starting point for government loans/work study; colleges can do whatever they want with their own funds.</p>
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<blockquote> <p>For FAFSA, since it only takes the custodial parent, my parents have to pay less than if they were still married or if they remarried?>></p> </blockquote>
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<p>Well...sort of. Remember the calculation the FAFSA does is your Expected Family Contribution. It does NOT compute the financial aid the school will award you. Many (if not most) of the schools that use ONLY the FAFSA do not meet full need. This means that your finaid will not necessarily cover all the costs beyond your EFC. </p>
<p>The Profile uses info from both parents (assets and income) AND those schools also factor in home equity. Typically, if you've owned a home for a while and have equity in your home, your contribution will be higher using the Profile...plus, the non-custodial parent has to file as well.</p>
<p>I'm not sure you got the full picture. FAFSA can be an advantage at FAFSA only schools if your custodial parent is the low earner. FAFSA schools, however, are generally state schools. Not so if your custodial parent is remarried though.</p>
<p>When profile is involved, so are both parents, both of their homes, their spouses sometimes....you get the picture.</p>
<p>There is no free lunch, if your family has money they usually get it.</p>