<p>I am at a loss with this fafsa stuff. My son is a second year college student. Scenario is: I am divorced, my ex lives in california, gets disability. This means kids get/got a substantial amount of money from him/government. My husband and I make fair living, not living high life by any means. I did not know who had to fill out fafsa, because ex is main support with the amount of money kids get. (I had to literally figure it out, dividing mortgage by 5 people living in the house, all bills etc. He was main support). So, for son the ex did the fafsa. Now, with daughter going, I am getting a hard time from a college on the financial aid papers they want me to fill out to figure out what she might get. They want me to put down my income, my husbands, and the ex's. Now come on, doesn't that significantly put my daughter at a disadvantage when it comes to financial aid, having to put 3 parents income's down? I was told by fafsa to only use the main support, irregardless of where the child actually lives, which is what I have done. Kids of divorce truly get messed up in this whole process no matter what. and I guess I am wondering, can my daughter qualify for the california tuition since ex technically has half custody? Her previous high school actually gave me a hard time and said she had to go to school where her father lived, at least half time, since we shared custody. I told them they would have to pay for the plane fair, and they backed off. They can't have it both ways. any advice from those who have been there?</p>
<p>Hi,</p>
<p>My ex and I have joint custody, but the kids lived with me slightly more each year. My understanding has always been that the form should be filled out by the parent with whom the student lives the most, but if they live equally with both parents, then the parent with the greatest support fills out the form. </p>
<p>If you are the parent with whom the child lives the most, then you and your now husband are to fill out the form. If your ex is the person, then he alone fills out the form. However, many private colleges (and others) also require more information, so that they can look at and count all three parents' income and assets. They may use either the CSS Profile form or their own institutional forms to get this data,</p>
<p>Some helpful answers are available on this link</p>
<p>Hope this helps you!</p>
<p>Momof3</p>
<p>thank you. I read it, and boy, don't they just get to pick and choose? it's the parent that provides the most support, (my ex) for some of it, the parent who the child lives with for another part, (me), so which is it? It's very confusing. I was told by fafsa it's the parent that provides more than half the support, so I guess that's what I go with .</p>
<p>I agree with momofthree- it is the parent child lives the most so it would be you and your husband. If your child lives equally between you and your ex then who gives more than 50% support fills FAFSA.
If your child lives with you but your ex claims her on tax forms, it is still you who fills FAFSA.</p>
<p>Legitimately, there are two questions to determine which parent's information goes on the FAFSA:</p>
<ol>
<li> Who has custody?</li>
<li> Who provides 50% +1 of the support for the child?</li>
</ol>
<p>A parent that can answer affirmatively to either question can fill out the FAFSA.</p>