<p>My parents are separated; I live with my mom; my dad lives overseas. On the financial aid forms we reported that my dad gives $14,400 in child support. Really, my dad gives $5,000 in child support and $9400 in alimony money, but it's not really alimony money--it's just money that my dad gives my mom so that she can pay for maintenance and food and general living expenses (My dad makes much more income than my mom does).</p>
<p>My question is this: On the Noncustodial Parent Statement, I listed $5,000 on annual child support paid by my dad for children (4b,c). And I put $9400 in alimony. But on the CSS Profile, I put down $14,400 for child support my mom received. I also put down $14,400 on question 16) of the Noncustodial Parent Statement. In other words, my answers are inconsistent. What would happen if I changed the inconsistent answers from $14,400 to $5,000? Would I get less aid? Should I just leave it as it is?</p>
<p>You should always be truthful and consistent. Your parents appear to be seperated, and as such (I think) count as divorced for FAFSA purposes. If they are not legally seperated, your dad does not pay alimony (now called spousal maintenance) in most states. If your parents are not legally divorced or seperated, and your dad is not under a court order or agreement filed with the court to make payments to your mom, he is making her gifts. My understanding, and hopefully the finaid people will weigh in, gifts to a parent are not reported on the FAFSA.</p>
<p>On the other other hand, most private schools will require reporting of non-custodial parents income.</p>
<p>How did you report the money on FAFSA? You should have reported the child support received as child support received … and you should have reported the “alimony” as untaxed income if it’s not reported as alimony on your mom’s 1040. If you received a Pell grant, it is possible that your answers provided on the CSS Profile may end up affecting your Pell eligibility - it’s not for-sure, because it depends on everything else, but it is possible. If the aid administrator sees a discrepancy based on your CSS info, he/she is required to update your FAFSA info. I suppose some aid administrators might view Dad’s payments as gifts, but I would not. He is giving her money to live on. He isn’t a benevolent friend; he is still married to her.</p>
<p>As for the way you reported it on CSS & the Noncustodial form, the aid administrator will make adjustments as he/she feels is necessary given the info you provided. As for whether or not it actually affects your aid, no one here can say. You’ll have to wait until your file has been completed by the aid office.</p>
<p>Kelsmom, I respect your finaid advice, but I don’t necessarily agree with you on divorce matters. If the parents are not legally divorced, I see this as a gift not untaxed income. What makes you regard these payments as child support/alimony?</p>
<p>They were reported as such on the Profile, meaning that that is what the family considers them to be. If I saw the info on the Profile, I would be required to resolve the conflicting info. Separation issues are not cut & dried. Some families can use them to scam the system (my coworker is dealing with just this type of situation right now). Aid administrators use their professional judgment all the time, and we often will request info on the arrangements a separated couple has financially. A man making 200k can easily say he is separated for financial aid purposes … the guy does physically live apart from the family. So if mom makes a small sum & dad gives her money to live relatively well, then the flags go up. Even if a family is not trying to scam the system, the dad pays the mom child support … even if it’s not court-ordered, it’s still child support. And the money dad gives mom is essentially alimony, ordered to be paid as such or not.</p>
<p>Again, though, your aid administrator may not view it the same way. It’s possible not everyone deals with the student population I deal with. I see so many families get creative on their FAFSA - figuring their chances of getting verified are smaller than their chances of getting away with it. If we catch them, they get mad that we took away what we “promised.” It’s tough this time of year!</p>
<p>I thought the OP asked how he should report the $$s. I said he should be truthful and consistent. If there is not a court order – the money is not alimony or CS. I see no indication that OP is trying to scam the system. Where do you get this even if not ordered, its still child support or alimony? If it is not court ordered, and is voluntary, its a gift. There is a major major difference – if court ordered, mom and/or child can seek enforcement if needed. If voluntary, they cant. Unless you can point to some rule in FAFSA world, child support, unless seperately defined has a specific meaning. </p>
<p>Personally I think both bioparents should be required to file FAFSA, but that’s not the law or regulations. I certainly think unless a couple is divorced or legally seperated they should be treated as married. Physically seperated – doesnt cut it with me. I hear your frustation, but with all due respect, it sounds to me that you are making up rules to fit a situation. Every institution has the right to access needs, but unless there is a court order (which can be filed voluntary), this just is not alimony or child support.</p>
<p>I went through a painful divorce (is that redundant?) and I would be resentful if people misrepresent their maritial situation. And I think very very foolish if any gets a phony divorce for finaid purposes and does not get all legal protection they are entitled to.</p>
<p>Kay, this isn’t tax court or a divorce proceding and FA does depend on professional judgement. It’s clearly stated by the DoE that financial aid administrators must resolve conflicting information before disbursing aid or making a professional judgment adjustment. </p>
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<p>The Profile vs. FAFSA disconnect would fall under the category of conflicting documents. For Profile, whether it is a gift or child support or alimony is immaterial as all 3 are reportable if received by the parent. Cash gifts to parents are not reported for FAFSA, but gifts to students are. What may be material is not how the mom or her attorney looks at the payments, but what the dad’s intentions are if they are not mandatory. Does he view them as child support, alimony payments, or gifts?</p>
<p>Lets put aside Profile, and yes thank you for finally ansering that question that gifts to parent are reportable (although not certain how much that matters if both biological parents are expected t report). How in the world can you say that Profile v. FAFSA fall under the category of conflicting documents? Don’t you think that was meant for things like a W-2 not agreeing to a tax return" Come on now - many rules in FAFSA and Profile are different. </p>
<p>I suspect that OP needs to talk to his mom, but I doubt the DOCUMENTS are conflicting, but rather his understanding of this was unclear. The except you provide clearly states that professional judgement can not be exercised to circumvent law or regs. While if in FAFSA world, gifts to a parent are not included in income, then I would submit YOU are suggesting that professional judgement could circumvent law or regulations. It is not how dad regards the payments – it is what they are – a persons intent does not make a payment mandatory.</p>
<p>I can understand you are frustated with fraud when it does happen – but that does not seem to be the case here.</p>
<p>The noncustodial parent’s intentions are wholly irrelevant in determining what to call the payments. If the payments are made as a result of a court finding or a prior stipulation (presumably the latter if the child is 18 years of age), then they are child support; otherwise, it’s probably not child support in the strict legal definition of the term.</p>
<p>OP clearly stated that this information has already been reported on Profile. Therefore, it exists in the school’s financial aid office. The aid administrator must decide what to do given the fact that the Profile clearly states the money is for child support and the other money is considered by the mother as something akin to alimony. If the aid administrator wishes to treat this money differently, he/she may do so by clearly documenting his/her line of thinking in the student’s file. On the other hand, the aid administrator may decide that this money should be treated as a divorced parent’s child support/alimony would be treated. In this case, I would most likely look at the whole package … it may well be that the money dad gives won’t make a difference in the EFC. But if mom doesn’t make enough money to support those in her household, this money definitely comes into play. Aid administrators routinely ask students to submit documentation of how the family survives on the amount of income reported. From this info, the decision is made on an individual basis as to how to treat any income. </p>
<p>The OP obviously was not trying to scam anyone. However, the fact remains that separated parent status can be abused, so aid administrators must be sensitive to that fact & research the situation. The separated parent issue was a hot topic on this forum awhile ago. The idea is to try to be fair to the student while making sure the parents’ financial situation is represented as accurately as possible. It’s an art, rather than a science.</p>
<p>I reported the child support money as child support my mom received, which sounds right. My mom has a part-time job, and my dad works full-time. My mom also has to support me and my brother, whereas my dad lives alone, so my dad usually sends a check every month to my mom for support. My parents are geographically separated but legally married. We made that clear in our financial aid forms, but since my parents are separated, we fill out the forms as if we were legally separated/divorced. I don’t know how else to list the money my mom receives except as alimony.</p>
<p>Your parents are geographically separated. But are they "separated’ — meaning, is their marriage broken & are they what you might consider divorced without the paperwork? There is definitely a difference. If they are simply separated by distance, then the income for both parents should have been reported on the FAFSA. The term “separated” in this context implies more than a geographical distance.</p>
<p>Please accept that “none of the above” is an answer on the FAFSA form as well as some SAT questions. Child support are payments that a person has a legal obligation to pay. You need to ask your mom if that is the case. This is not a minor issue. If your dad decides to stop paying, you and/or your mom can pursue the matter in court. If he is paying volunataritly it is a gift, if he decides to stop, you and your mom have no recourse. If the payments are to your mom, it is a gift to her. </p>
<p>If your parents are seperated, but there is no legal obligation for your dad to pay alimony or child support, it is a gift. The FAFSA does not require reporting gifts to parents (only to child). So it goes nowhere. On Profile, which according to Kelsmom, require reporting of gifts it is a gift form dad to mom.</p>
<p>Kelsmom - from the way dchow08 speaks, his parents are seperated, not just living in different places.</p>
<p>Kellsmom – you said "For Profile, whether it is a gift or child support or alimony is immaterial as all 3 are reportable if received by the parent. " Now you say you didn’t say Profile required reporting of gifts – my error? </p>
<p>Dchow – if there is no legal obligation, these are gifts. If you can not find a place to put in, then there is no place. Don’t make something up. There is no requirement that your parents have a legal seperation for FAFSA, just be seperated. </p>
<p>Kellsmom, I appreciate your frustration, and every instituion has every right to allocate institutional aid as it sees fit. Federal aid is subject to federal rules and regulations. I do not think children of divorce/seperated parents are treated fairly. IMHO every state should allow judges to require parents to pay for college (based on all relevant factors, including childs academic ability and parents ability to pay). But I dont make the rules. I suspect federal rules are based somewhat on reliance on joint tax returns and practical considerations. At a minimum, FAFSA rules should be rquired to report gifts by a parent to another parent. That being said, the rules are what they are.</p>
<p>Thank you both for taking your time to help me out. I’ll ask my parents about the separation issue and about the legal obligation for child support. It looks like I’ve got the answer I was looking for.</p>
<p>For Profile, whether it is a gift or child support or alimony is immaterial as all 3 are reportable if received by the parent. </p>
<p>Hmmm … can’t find where I said that. I have only my own personal experience with Profile - I don’t deal with it professionally. I am not divorced so haven’t paid attention to what would be requested.</p>
<p>What is needed for a legal separation varies from state to state. An agreement between separated parties doesn’t necessarily have to be filed with the court to be a legal and governing document (though if something goes wrong between the parties, one may need the courts to resolve the dispute).</p>
<p>Owlice, the instructions to FAFSA seem to say to me, that if parents are seperated they file as divorced/seperated, even if not legally seperated. </p>
<p>In my state, child support and spousal maintenance (commonly referred to as alimony) are defined terms. I’ld hate to have to go to court to enforce an agreement not structred as CS or maintenance, as one would question how enforceable it would be. </p>
<p>We dont know what’s behind OP’s parent arrangements. It could be that as dad is overseas, mom is concerned that any legal arrangment would be unenforceable (if all of dads assets are overseas), as a practical matter, and she takes what she can get.</p>