If you pay it, and the student is your ex-husband’s tax dependent, and your ex-husband meets other requirements including the income limitation, he most certainly could receive a $2500 tax credit on tuition money you paid.
A more informed lawyer or divorcing couple may have included language in the agreement that the higher income parent pays an amount for college that is not more than instate tuition and is then net of any education tax credit the lower income parent receives for the student.
@Madison85 Yeah- let’s say I got killed all around financially; two lawyers and still…our AGI is on the cusp…but that is WITH my husband filing jointly
Probably not, but if so then it would be reported in another line on FAFSA.
You are right that it’s often easy to “game the system”. Usually it’s the higher income father who doesn’t have custody, and his income isn’t used on FAFSA. Yes, games are played, particularly once kids are in college and it’s hard to tell when the kids are during the summer, or when bth parents live in the same city as the child’s high school.
I would prefer that FAFSA require NCP info when the parents are still married, but separated, or there has been a child support order in place or when the separation/divorce occurs during the college years.
Heck, there are people pretending to be separated just to get their kid a Pell Grant.
FAFSA rules: The parent with whom the student lived with the most in the most recent 12 months is the "parent’ for FAFSA purposes (and if that parent is remarried, the stepparent is also a parent for FAFSA).
If you pay child support to your ex, he would include that as untaxed income on the FAFSA. The household size is your ex, your D, and any others living in your ex’s household. If you are completing a FAFSA for another child, you cannot include this D in your household size or # in college. If you pay child support for her, you can include this on your FAFSA.
“So I wonder if the college amount I must pay is considered ‘part of a legal child support agreement’” - not sure - guess it depends on the wording of the divorce decree. You don’t get any kind of break on your other kids’ FAFSAs for the money you are obligated to pay for this kid’s college unless you can truthfully say it is child support. Is this actually “a legal child support agreement?” If it actually is, and if you can argue this successfully with the school as being such, it would be reported in the 2nd year as child support received by your ex, rather than as other income for your daughter. You would then be able to report it on your other kids’ FAFSAs as child support paid, I suppose (the D still does not count in # in household or college). My gut would be that this is not actually part of the child support agreement, but rather part of the divorce/custody agreement. But I don’t know that the contract says.
She will not include the amount you are obligated to pay for her for college on her initial FAFSA. In her 2nd year, she will include the amount you paid for her first year of college on her FAFSA (money received or paid on your behalf). This has to be reported because you are not the FAFSA parent. (And as I said earlier, if you were to argue that the money paid is “child support,” this would be on your ex’s info, not your D’s.)
If she goes to a school that requires Profile or has its own financial aid forms, you may have to provide your financial info. For federal aid purposes, though, you do not … you are not the parent for federal aid.
There was a question asked about why you have to provide all your info if all you want is an unsubsidized loan, which is not dependent on need & is guaranteed. The simplest answer I can give is that people don’t always know that they won’t qualify for anything else … there are a lot of people who would figure they won’t qualify for anything & would think it’s easiest just to skip the FAFSA questions and get a loan. While those of us who frequent CC are used to people making a bu**load of money whining about not getting any aid … there really are a ton of folks out there who wouldn’t realize they qualify for Pell, SEOG, FWS, sub loans … and the possible institutional aid that might be available, too. It’s a simple form, really. It’s not all that awful for most of us to complete.
@kelsmom, I have a question. OP mentioned that the money for older D’s college expenses were paid so far out of an 529 account. If that account would be in D’s name would that money still be considered as “paid on her behalf”?
Also I was reading about who gets included in household size, it seemed to say that if the stepparent’s income is included and they have children they support more than 50% that they can include them in household size and students in college even if they don’t live there, is that incorrect?
Yikes, it’s hard to follow all of this. Okay, so is the D actually already in school? And this is the first time you will file a FAFSA? In that case, yes, the money paid from the mom’s 529 for the prior year will be counted as either the student’s other income or the father’s child support (covering my bases here).
Household size includes those people for whom the person provides at least 51% of support. If the question is, can the OP include her D in the stepkids’ HH size and # in college because of the fact that OP says she is supporting the D at least 51%: Well … if the OP is paying any child support to the ex, the answer is no. So if she is saying that the money paid for college is part of a legal child support agreement, she cannot then include the D in her (the mom’s) HH size/# in college. If she does not pay child support and is not claiming that the money paid for college is part of a legal child support agreement, then she technically could include the D in her own HH size/# in college … IF and ONLY IF she would be able to prove that she provides at least 51% of that child’s support. If the child is living with the dad, that might be tough to prove.
If by “in D’s name” you mean that D is the account owner (as well as the beneficiary), in that case FAFSA would consider the 529 account to be a parent asset, and the balance would get reported under the assets of the custodial parent. Distributions would not count as income in this case.
Interestingly, it appears that 529 distributions for the student from a 529 account owned by a non-custodial parent also do not get reported as student untaxed income, but instead the account balance gets reported as an asset of the custodial parent. I guess FAFSA assumes (hopes?) that the custodial and non-custodial parent will cooperate in sharing and reporting this information.
@kelsmom, from what I understand, OP’s oldest D has been in college for several years, she is 21.
I don’t know if FAFSA was filed before. OP said up until now that the costs have been paid from the 529 account.
OP mentioned that ex husband wanted to use his info on FAFSA since he makes less and oldest D lives with him. OP thought that she should be parent on FAFSA because of court order to pay college costs of oldest D.
Two of the stepchildren of OP are also in college.
Thanks for the clarification of the household size/kids in college question.
@BelknapPoint, thanks for the 529 info.
Thanks @kelsmom - our situation certainly makes it a tad complicated! I am not trying to game the system in any way, but somehow show the true reality of the situation. I have a good job and all, but I got killed financially in my divorce (as did my husband with his ex) and we are just trying to get all the kids through school as best we can without living in a box on the street in 10 years!
Yes D has been in college for a few years and FAFSA has been filed before BUT the situation keeps changing. Ex does not cooperate with in any way for anything at any time, regardless of what is best for the girls (makes things difficult at best). I used to fight it but it wasn’t worth the stress… nothing changed.
The first year she went FT, and we were still technically married, so that was fairly simple. Since then, she has gone part time and the 529 was used to cover all expenses… she and he filed FAFSA-- I am not sure if they did it right, but as her 529 covered it all, I am not sure it mattered,.
THIS will be the first year that it does matter, which is why I am asking. I have to look at my support agreement more closely. But she IS moving out before the end of the year and I WILL be paying her tuition. I am not SO concerned about the next few semesters as she is going part time to finish up some general ed requirements. That said I most certainly will be providing most of her support (I mean she actually is providing her own support-- but I am paying for tuition and books).
But in Fall 2017, she is planning to go to a FT program that lasts two years. She is planning on taking GSLs, but if she could get some grants too better for her (and me) since by then I will have 3 in college counting my step daughter (step son should be done).
Thanks all for helping me figure all this out!
If oldest D is going to school part time and you will be paying the bill, and she doesn’t need to take out loans, then maybe FAFSA doesn’t need to be filed?
Otherwise if she lived with her dad more in this past year then she should use his info and file FAFSA if she could qualify for grants. Less to pay for you. Can you ask if she got any grants previously or was the full cost of tuition deducted from the 529?
As for two years from now, is that a graduate or professional school program? I think usually there are only loans available for that. Pell and such I think is only available for undergraduate study, up to completion of bachelor’s degree.
@mommdc - the program is undergraduate. It is a two year program at the community college for Ultrasound Tech. I think she got a tiny grant one year and like I said I don’t know if her father and her filled it out properly- he certainly wouldn’t consider COMMUNICATING civilly with me about it… sigh. But I paid every bill she sent to me out of the 529.
Well if oldest D would like to see if she qualifies for any aid she will have to file FAFSA and fill it out correctly, I’m sure the FA office at her school would be able to help her.
You have a couple more years to plan for D2 and D3.