<p>Ok here is the question, since my daughter was 4 her father and I have been divorced and have done a true 50/50 joint custody with no one paying child support. Any bills have been split between us. We are both remarried and we take turns claiming her on our income taxes. Who fills out the FASFA each year?</p>
<p>The parent with whom she spends the one extra night.</p>
<p>seriously that is crazy and who knows which one that is we don’t keep track of that…m-t with me, w-th, with him and alternating fri sat and sun… there has to be a more definitive way and then we each take a vacation with her here and there we don’t keep a calendar logging it, never had a need to we get along unlike most of the divorced parents of the world??? This is crazy.</p>
<p>Nope, that is the way it is. If you truly believe that it is a 50/50 split and she is not spending an extra day anywhere, then it is the parent (s) who earns the most (It does not matter who files her on their taxes). Keep in mind this is only determine federal aid. Schools that give a lot of institutional aid will ask for the CSS profile/Non-custodial profile or their own forms.</p>
<p>Oh well I guess divorce complicates everything, even college…at least we all get along. Thanks for all the help:)</p>
<p>It probably won’t matter anyway. If you and your new spouse make about the same as ex and his spouse, just pick one. Is either couple making under the amount that she would qualify for a pell grant or perkins loan? If so, pick that parent to file. There is no FAFSA police that will go through the calendar and count the overnights with each parent. If you state that she is with one couple more than the other, they’ll accept that.</p>
<p>The way a lot of families like yours do it, is that they pick which one is beneficial to be the custodial parent for FAFSA purposes. Since it doesn’t matter what the divorce decree says, or what who claims the child on the tax forms or anything, but just hinges on which parent has the child more for the 1 year period before the FAFSA is completed, make sure that s/he spends at least one more night with that parent than the other. Simple as that. </p>
<p>My friend has custody of her children and they have always lived with her with only visitation with her ex, but she made sure her high school senior spent time with his dad that crucial year, since she made 6 figures and he barely made a living. Big fat zero EFC with him as the custodial parent meant full PELL and subsidized loans. Had the form been filed with her as the custodial parent, they wouldn’t have gotten a dime. Thought the PROFILE schools did want her info as well, they gave it a lot less weight than they would have had she been the custoidial parent according the the NPCs she filled out. As a single parent with three kids and one in college, the NPC for the school her son picked would give her no financial aid, just the unsubsidized Direct loans that all student get. As the NCP with with two kids and the Dad as the CP for the student, the school actually came up with a need based grant along with the PELL, Subsidized loan and some work study. Apparently at that school, being PELL eligible opened up some grant oportunities even though they use PROFILE. For the FAFSA only schools, the young man did get some need based grants as well as the federal entitlement, though none of them came up with full rides that the zero EFC would have entitled him to. </p>
<p>So use your common sense with this and work together so that the situation is as advantageous as possible.</p>
<p>Sounds like both households earn too much for Pell, so much of this may be moot. If your D is applying to CSS Profile schools that give the best aid, both parents’ household incomes will be used.</p>
<p>It is probably a good idea for both households to talk NOW about how much they will pay towards D’s college costs. </p>
<p>FAFSA EFC does NOT mean what you may think it means. If a school costs $50k and you have an EFC of $27k, that does NOT mean that the school has to give you the rest of the money.</p>
<p>FAFSA is to determine federal aid, which isn’t much…and it is likely you won’t qualify for any “free money” from the feds unless you are low income. </p>
<p>What schools are you looking at? </p>
<p>To be on the safe side, be sure to have your D apply to a couple of schools where you know all costs can be covered by YOU, or both parents, or with ASSURED merit scholarships from the school.</p>
<p>Yours is an unusual situation if you truly split nights 50/50 and truly share support 50/50. Those are the first two tests but if you don’t want to keep track, then the one who earns the most. Though I would think she must only be on one parents health insurance, though if the other spouse reimburses half of those premiums then a 50/50 split could be possible. It may be worth bothering to keep track and arranging for at least one more night to be spent with the lower earner in the 12 months preceding filing fafsa. But as others have said, if that spouse still isn’t low enough income for Pell or other grants, work study, subsidized loans etc. then it may not matter much. Schools with the best aid(also generally the most costly) will use CSS profile or their own forms and almost always will ask for financial info from both parents.</p>
<p>This is the situation with my ex and I. We have 50/50 joint physical and legal custody, (week to week alternating), and no child support either way (by voluntary agreement years ago). Because I make twice what he makes, we’re just careful to make sure she spends at least one more night with him than me, making him custodial for FAFSA. With his income she qualifies for full pell, work study, and a school grant, with mine she won’t qualify for as much (though I’m not exactly well-off). Because she’s going to a public university that does not require the CSS profile or NCP info, we’re in a nice situation. She gets a good amount of aid, which reduces the cost quite a bit, thanks to her dad’s income, but I make enough money to help her close the gap (she’s still working while in school, and summers and taking federal loans).</p>
<p>annoyingdad…once again we are lucky in that case her dad does cover her on insurance but it is because his job provides coverage for him and his dependents as one of his benefits with no out of pocket premiums so there is no reimbursements from me there, we just split the difference on what the insurance doesn’t cover…but all is well we have discussed and will just make sure that she stays the extra night at his house during this year after all what is one night if that is all it takes to make it work, again thanks for all the help.</p>