FAFSA divorced parent question

Paying for College
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<p>My ex and I divide both time and expenses as close to 50/50 as humanly possible. So by the FAFSA rules, either one of us could claim to be the custodial parent.</p>

<p>However, I have remarried; he has not. So my <em>household</em> income is much larger than his, even though my husband does not contribute to the support of my children. (I consider that the responsibility of the people who actually brought the kids into the world.) Do you think it would be kosher in these circumstances to have my ex do the FAFSA filing as custodial parent?</p>

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<p>Lunitari, Why not just have your daughter spend 60% of the time with her dad. Then he would be the custodial parent. I believe that it's when the parents have equal custody, the one with the higher income is considered the custodial parent. Maybe Swimcats can comment on that.</p>

<p>If it's really 50/50 I believe the parent with the higher income is supposed to be the custodial parent for FAFSA purposes. I think.</p>

23

<p>I think it's the parent who contributes more to the child's support, not the parent with the highest income. </p>

<p>But again, we have always worked so hard to divide these costs right down the middle! Because that always seemed like the fairest thing to do. Sometimes I've earned more (like now), sometimes he's earned more. But it would take a forensic accountant to figure out who's really contributed 10 cents more to her support.</p>

<p>P.S. - If it matters, his address is on the school records, but I claim her on my taxes. As best I can tell FAFSA doesn't care who's claiming the tax exemption, though.</p>

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<p>My wife has a son who starts college this year. She is divorced and we were married 5 years ago. She has some earned income, maybe $35,000 a year, her ex-husband has $125,000 income. My earned income was over $200,000 in 2007. The son lives in both households as shared custody in Colorado. He is claimed on his father's return, but as much support or more comes from his mother. She does receive child support. </p>

<p>Our pre-nuptial agreement keeps assets and income separate. We do not have a joint account. I pay all household expenses directly. My wife uses her income for her 3 children (including the son that starts college this year). My wife filed a FAFSA using her separate tax return (she filed married filing separately) and did not include my income or assets. She has no investment assets, but I do. I read the instructions that indicate that even with a pre-nupt agreement my income and assets have to be included. She chose to ignore that because our pre-nupt specifies that I will not be responsible for the education of her 3 children. </p>

<p>I am wondering if she is liable or both of us are liable for her mistake of misinterpreting the instructions. My understanding is that her son did qualify for a very small award of $1,500 as a result of the FAFSA. He has earned a number of scholarships based on academic achievement, not need. He is going to attend an expensive eastern school. </p>

<p>I need help explaining to my wife that she has made an error.</p>

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<p>Prenuptutial agreements have no bearing on filling out the fafsa. Your wife should have included your income and assets.</p>

<p>If the college required the CSS profile, she would also need to report her ex-husband's income and assets</p>

<p>Fafsa doesn't award money, however it qualifies you for Pell and other grants. Your stepchild seems to have incorrectly qualified for a Pell Grant perhaps?</p>

<p>FinAid</a> | Financial Aid Applications | Common Errors
<<Your Parents and the FAFSA</p>

<h2>If your parents are divorced or separated, the parent with whom you lived the most during the past 12 months is the parent responsible for filling out the FAFSA. This is not necessarily the same as the parent who has legal custody. Use the most recent calendar year for which you lived with either parent. If the parent who is responsible for completing the FAFSA has remarried, your step-parent must report his or her income and assets on the FAFSA, even if they weren't married during the previous year. Prenuptial agreements have no bearing on this requirement. .</h2>

<p>Is your wife the primary custodial parent, I assume your wife chose to fill the fafsa out as the custodial parent because her income is lower, but she didn't put all the information on the form, your income and assets. I hope she put the child support on the form.</p>

<p>Yes, some people cheat, and some get away with it, but I couldn't sleep at night knowing I was falsifying data to receive government grants meant for people less fortunate than myself</p>

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<p>The FAFSA instructions quite specifically say that a Stepparents income and assets must be included - no exceptions and prenups do not make a difference. From
Completing</a> the FAFSA 07-08/The Application Questions(55-83)

[quote]
A stepparent is treated in the same manner as a biological parent if the stepparent is married, as of the date of application, to the biological parent whose information will be reported on the FAFSA or if the stepparent has legally adopted you. **There are no exceptions. Prenuptial agreements do not exempt the stepparent from providing required data on the FAFSA. **Note that the stepparent's income information for the entire base year, 2007, must be reported even if your parent and stepparent were not married until after the start of 2007, but were married prior to the date the FAFSA was completed.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Your stepson would probably be liable in addition to your wife as it is his FAFSA and technically he is the one providing the information. You did not sign the document so would probably not be liable. FAFSA is a federal document. At the end of FAFSA where your stepson and your wife will have signed the document (electronically if on line) and agreed to the following:

[quote]
If you are the parent or the student, by signing this application you agree, if asked, to provide information that will verify the accuracy of your completed form. This information may include U.S. or state income tax forms that you filed or are required to file. Also, you certify that you understand that the Secretary of Education has the authority to verify information reported on this application with the Internal Revenue Service and other federal agencies. If you sign any document related to the federal student aid programs electronically using a Personal Identification Number (PIN), you certify that you are the person identified by the PIN and have not disclosed that PIN to anyone else. If you purposely give false or misleading information, you may be fined up to $20,000, sent to prison, or both.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>It is highly likely that at some time in your stepson's college career he will be selected for verification by FAFSA (1/3 of FAFSAs are selected randomly - my daughter has been selected both her freshman and soph years, my son was selected this year). The financial aid office can and will go back and look at prior years if they realize information is inaccurate because they are liable for repaying federal aid money awarded incorrectly.</p>

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<p>lunitari
From Completing</a> the FAFSA 07-08/The Application Questions(55-83)

[quote]
If your parents are divorced (or separated - see below for more information), answer the questions about the parent you lived with more during the 12 months preceding the date you complete the FAFSA. I**f you did not live with one parent more than the other, give answers about the parent who provided more financial support during the 12 months preceding the date you complete the FAFSA **or during the most recent year that you actually received support from a parent.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Your situation is unusual if you genuinely split the time and the costs equally (good for you both by the way - sadly you are a rarity among divorced parents). I would think you could file either way though the fact that you claim her on your taxes might be an issue here as the rules for claiming a dependent on your taxes are that you provide more than 50% support. Have her spend a couple of weeks extra with Dad.</p>

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<p>I have a question about this too:
Do I have to include the noncustodial parent on FAFSA and the CSS Profile if that parent does not contribute anything on a regular basis and I am not on their taxes?</p>

<p>Parents were never married</p>

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<p>Swimcatsmom,I have to wonder if that $1500 they 'got from fafsa' is a Pell grant (because of only showing 35K income?) whereas if the ex-husband's income is 125K and the mom and step dad are at 235K, obviously they wouldn't have gotten a pell grant either way</p>

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<p>I'm assuming it is the Pell - or a combo of the Pell and ACG maybe. I hope stepdad convinces his wife that she needs to correct this.</p>

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<p>trnsparent - for FAFSA you do not report the non custodial parent at all. For CSS profile you will be expected to report the non custodial parent. You can ask for an exemption - whether or not one is forthcoming depends on the school and it's policies.</p>

<p>Being claimed on their taxes is not relevant when it comes to financial aid. We have not claimed our son for years but still have to give our financial information as by FAFSA terms he is a dependent.</p>

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<p>Could I claim that that parent is unknown for CSS? I know that they will not give me any support for college because they dont at this point either.</p>

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<p>Exceptions to the rquirement for non-custodial info are made by the college, not CSS. You could ask...</p>

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<p>Am I the only one annoyed by all this talk of gaming the system? So if my husband and I make the same amount per year as the OP, because he and his ex chose to divorce, they should get to use the Mother's financial information and collect financial aid while we pay the full ride for our child? </p>

<p>It seems that every day there is another post about how to use a divorce to the parents advantage.</p>

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<p>You can only "claim that the parent is unknown" if that is the truth. In your case, it's not the truth. You will need to file the non-custodial parent form for most schools requiring the Profile (some of those schools actually do not require it...but most do). It doesn't matter a speck that the parent "will not give you any support for college". What your parents will or won't do doesn't matter to the FAFSA and Profile folks and to the schools. What matters is what their calculated contribution is based on their income and assets.</p>

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<p>Just a word about support, from a Financial Aid Administrator.....</p>

<p>When schools (and the government) look at who supports the child the most, they look at where the child spends the most time. Even if the other parent contributes a decent amount of child support, the custodial parent (or the parent with whom the child spends more than 50% of their time) is considered to be contributing more than 50% of the childs support. Realistically, there is no such thing as a 50/50 split (except during a leap year)...the days just do not allow one. There is always 1 extra day attached to one parent (you cannot split a day in half when dealing with the Federal government.) IRS dependency also doesn't equate support, as divorce decrees and decent parental relationships can mean an alternating pattern between parents. This alternating is legal for taxes, per IRS standards, but is irrelevant for FAFSA standards.</p>

<p>Word to divorced parents...Just be honest!! If the child resides with the parent who makes more money, then file the FAFSA with that person listed as the parent. If the child truly resides with the parent who makes the least money, then use that parent. When you jump through an imagined "loophole" you are hurting many people. Your child may reap some financial benefits in the here and now, but at what cost??? You might be taking away money from a child who DESPERATELY needs the funding (some need-based funds are limited, like SEOG and Perkins loans). You are also placing yourself and your child into a situation where they COULD be hit with fraud penalties from the Department of Education. When you and your child sign the FAFSA with your PIN number (or mail off the paper signature page), you swear that the information provided on the FAFSA is correct. You also acknowledge that willfuly and knowingly providing false information is punishable by a fine of up to $20,000 AND OR time in jail. You can also be required to REPAY any need based aid that was obtained illegally and be prohibited from receiving any federal/state aid in the future.</p>

<p>Not only could you face these horrible financial reprocusions, what lesson(s) are you teaching to your children? What other schemes wil they be willing to try later in life that could cost them EVERYTHING?</p>

<p>Remember, need-based aid is NOT an entitlement....it isn't designed to be received by ALL students. It is in place to assist those students who are truly POOR. If parents/students keep abusing the system, the Department of Education and Congress might decide to get rid of Pell, SEOG, Perkins, etc...and then think of how society will be. </p>

<p>Don't think it would come to that? Look at what happened when people abused the professional override for dependency status? (That is where FAA's could make a dependent student independent if the student could document that they were self-supportive). The Department of Education decided that FAA's could no longer override dependency on the basis of self-support. Now, it doesn't mattre if the parent makes $15K and the student makes $45k and hasn't lived in the household for 3 years.</p>

<p>And ebeeeee..you aren't the only one annoyed. I am sick over it. I can't tell you how many deserving students have been denied need-based aid because parents either deliberately lied or hid assets and snagged the aid first. I've seen many students pull up to my office in expensive cars (with ther mother or father driving up in a separate but equally expensive car) declaring that they are pooooor and need help funding thier child's education while truly pooor students are riding greyhound just to get to the school and living on hot dogs and mac and cheese (they give up the meal plan so they can afford their textbooks).</p>

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<p>I don't think they're really talking about subverting the system, ebeee, (at least I hope not) though I'm sure alot of people do it. In this case I think it's a matter of filing correctly, which they may not have done due to misunderstanding FAFSA's definitions vs. IRS definitions or the joint custody clause. If the law is written that way, and fits their situation, it's not immoral or illegal to use it as it was intended to be used. Just like with taxes, it's really not their obligation to pay more than they're required to - even if they can afford it! (I'm pretty sure no one would choose to divorce to save money on tuition - but it takes all kinds...!)</p>

<p>In cases like this it seems like a loophole working to their advantage but there are so many more divorces that result in no actual child support, no reimbursement for medical or educational expenses, and sometimes no contact at all! The courts and legal system are ridiculously inadequate at enforcing divorce agreements (my ex didn't pay a dime for 5+ years and got his driver's license suspended for 30 days) and many custodial parents often don't have the time/stamina/financial wherewithal to fight for their children's money. There are so many creative ways non-custodials can game that system! But at least FAFSA doesn't put kids in the position of having a high EFC due to a deadbeat, but otherwise financially stable, parent. When schools use Profile, it seems that many children of divorce are very unlucky in the financial aid lottery! Not to mention the precarious position both FAFSA and Profile puts the student in when the custodial parent remarries and the stepparent has significant income/assets but has no intention of contributing to the EFC!! I wouldn't describe divorce as an "advantage" for anyone, even if it's sometimes a necessary thing.</p>

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<p>sk8rmom, </p>

<p>I disagree. They are clearly looking for a way to game the system and I for one am sick of it. Your comments about child support/divorce/etc. do not apply to what I read of the OP. </p>

<p>I do feel for the kids whose divorced parents are able but unwilling to pay. There are also kids whose married parents are able but unwilling to pay. Again, a college education is not an entitlement! Those kids will borrow, go to a community college (not the worst option although some CCers seem to think so), work their way through school (as many of us did), or delay their education. </p>

<p>As far as profile and the stepparent situation I don't agree. If a parent chooses to marry someone who has no intention of supporting their child even when the means are there, where is it written that the government should step in?? And then there is less money for the child whose father is in prison, whose father is dead, whose father is unknown, (or mother for that matter) and who is truly in a single parent situation.</p>

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<p>P.S.
Thanks for backing me up NikkiiL, how about if everyone just tells the TRUTH on these forms.<br>
P.P.S.
I tell the truth on my income tax forms, which means that I contribute significantly to our federal government.</p>

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<p>About the OP - yeah, I can see where you're coming from and really hadn't read his first post that carefully. But it's hard to supply full details in these forums while still protecting privacy and people often get attacked because the reader assumes they know the full picture from a few sentences. I think he tried to explain or correct himself but people took that as backtracking.</p>

<p>I guess I try to see things from the student's point of view and since I don't work in the FA business I'll defer to Nikkii and others who do. I just know many situations personally in which these kids aren't looking for free rides with no work, elite colleges, etc. - just a little help that will allow them to meet their real COA despite their mixed up family situations - they're willing to borrow the money even but get cut short on loans too. Is it really the kid's fault that a stepparent has the higher income and has not planned for their education or has other commitments? Do single parents have to delay their marraige now because it might make college unaffordable? Personally, I'd rather see 1 family exploit a loophole that allows 100 others to eke out the financing of their education. Just my .02!</p>