<p>I fill out the FAFSA for my two children, but per our divorce decree my x-husband and I always take one child for taxes. Can he still do this even though I do the FAFSA? We share all cost 50/50 so no one parent pays more than the other. My husband is re-married so it is better for me to file the FAFSA since he has to include his new wife's income. Any help on this would be appreciated as we both want to file our taxes.</p>
<p>Who claims which child on taxes is (mainly) irrelevant for FAFSA. If your divorce decree states that you each claim a child (so that you can each file head of household) then you can safely do this.</p>
<p>What’s important is who the student lives with most. In the past year, was the student living more than 50% of the time with you? In that case, you’re the custodial parent as far as FAFSA is concerned and you would fill out the form. If the student lived with his father most, then he fills out FAFSA as the custodial parent.</p>
<p>If the student split his time equally between parents, and you both provide an equal amount of support, then there are other criteria for determining the custodial parent for FAFSA.</p>
<p>Here’s the list:</p>
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<p>[FinAid</a> | Answering Your Questions | Divorce and Financial Aid](<a href=“http://www.finaid.org/questions/divorce.phtml]FinAid”>http://www.finaid.org/questions/divorce.phtml)</p>
<p>FAFSA is filed using the custodial parent’s information and has nothing to do with dependency for tax purposes. As long as you are the custodial parent, you’re filing correctly. The FAFSA instructions are very helpful and clear on this.</p>