<p>how is the fafsa viewed by ofa's in regard to recent seperation?</p>
<p>I get the impression fafsa only wants to know the custodial parent's info but the CSS profle needs a non-custodial form as well?</p>
<p>In general it seems the needbased schools want both and less expensive private colleges and SUNY's only request fafsa?</p>
<p>Unfortunately, our family is looking at a seperation and possible foreclosure and possible bankruptcy all taking place in the next months ahead.</p>
<p>I have no idea where to begin as to help my d apply to schools this fall and winter.</p>
<p>What kind of chances do we have for need-based aid &/or merit aid ( good student non urm) the saving grace in all this is my husband's income is about 120,000 yr. But from an application point of view this is a nightmare since his income makes ineligible for any real financial aid.</p>
<p>My income alone would be considered poverty level and I have four children.
Although my husband plans to help support us. </p>
<p>I figured we can put our circumstances into writing and attach to fin aid forms when it is time but does anyone have experience w/ a seperation and financial hardship right around first year frehman application time? </p>
<p>Any advise..........I am sorry I had to reveal all this personal info but I have noone to turn to. When we visit colleges I plan on visiting fin aid office to inquire about my options but any counsel you can give now will put my mind at ease and perhaps educate me in these processes. </p>
<p>thank you</p>
<p><a href="http://finaid.org/calculators/finaidestimate.phtml%5B/url%5D">http://finaid.org/calculators/finaidestimate.phtml</a>
this EFC calculator has been pretty accurate for our family, although we don't have the complicated issues of child support/divorce and custody</p>
<p>If your child is applying for the 2006-2007 school year , the aid offices will want returns from 2005.
Say you underwent legal seperation etc by November 30 of this year. The way I understand it, you would submit FAFSA( in january) as your household stood for the majority of this year 2005- but you then can submit additional information to the financial aid office once you have records and verifiable info about your new status.</p>
<p>I also suggest to get your affairs in order if possible so that you can file FAFSA as close to January 1st as you can.
I think it makes a difference to get in first and in any case it will be good to have it out of the way.
You also can amend FAFSA once you have filed and it has been processed in case you have additional information ( like the small detail of tax forms). PROFILE can't be corrected, but schools often have their own forms anyway.
My daughters school has their own form and we also submit signed 1040s and W-2s every year as well.</p>
<p>luliztee: Sorry to hear about your situation.</p>
<p>The financial aid formula considers the income and assets of the <b>custodial parent</b> (the parent with whom the student lived most during the 12 months prior to completing the aid application). So in a completed divorce situation, the non-custodial parent's income wouldn't be considered (FAFSA) except to the extent that that non-custodial parent is paying alimony or child support to the custodial parent (where it would show as income on the FAFSA).</p>
<p>The PROFILE does ask some questions about the non-custodial parent, but the non-custodial parent's income isn't considered by most colleges in calculating the EFC. Some PROFILE colleges will have the non-custodial parent fill out a supplemental form.</p>
<p>As to separation-- for financial aid purposes, there is no difference between separation, legal separation, and divorce.</p>
<p>I think that the IRS does view legal seperation and more casual seperation differently though- so it makes sense to me that some schools would as well.</p>
<p>But this might be helpful- in the instance that your EFC doesn't seem right.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Special Circumstances</p>
<p>Sometimes a student's EFC does not accurately reflect his or her family's current financial situation. In some cases, the financial aid office has the ability to adjust the student's EFC, so that it more accurately reflects the student's current situation. This process is known as a request for "special conditions" consideration. The following situations qualify as special conditions:</p>
<p>A change in a student or parents income due to unemployment or a change of profession
Divorce or seperation
A change in household income due to the loss of child support, alimony, social security benefits, disability benefits, or unemployment benefits
A non-recurring income that was received for the prior year and recorded on the prior years taxes and/or FAFSA form
Unusually high medical and dental expenses not covered by insurance.
If one of the reasons above describes your family's current situation, please download the application for a special condition from the "Printable Forms" section of this website. Please return the application, along with all of the documentation requested on the application, to the Financial Aid Office. Contact information for the Financial Aid Office can be found at the top of this page by selecting "Contact Us." In all cases, documentation of your family's situation will be required before a request for special consideration can be granted. A "special conditions" request cannot be completed until all documentation requested by our office is received.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I would wager a week's pay that separation is viewed differently than a legal divorce decree. The bottom line is that <em>I</em> could "separate" from my husband who certainly had the higher income of the two of us. This is something most any family "could" do to maximize need based finaid. I would think a divorce decree is the acid test for not using that non-custodial parent income. Even so...if it were me, I would discuss college expenses with my divorce lawyer. If you browse through the posts here, you will see a number from families where the non-custodial parent could pay, but will not. Sadly this was not addressed at the time of the divorce. In most cases, child support ends at age 18...unless something specific is written into the decree. Be proactive.</p>
<p>I'll take that week's pay. :)</p>
<p>Just because you <em>could</em> separate from your husband in order to increase your financial aid eligibility, wouldn't make it right, or in the best interest of the familiy. But if you were separated for most of the base income year, and you were the custodial parent, your FAFSA EFC would be based on your income, not your husband's. Same as if you were divorced for that period.</p>
<p>More about divorce/separation and financial aid here:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.finaid.org/questions/divorce.phtml%5B/url%5D">http://www.finaid.org/questions/divorce.phtml</a></p>
<p>The IRS does view legal seperation as different from casual seperation.
I daresay they view a casual seperation without the legal agreements of a legal seperation as being the same as married filing seperately</p>
<p>I'm sorry for what you are going through. My suggestion is to contact the financial aid officers at some of the colleges your D is considering. You can make such contact anonymously.</p>
<p>ek:</p>
<p>How the IRS treats a situation is different than how the FAFSA financial aid calculators treat a situation. Taxes are different than financial aid elibibility.</p>
<p>For financial aid purposes, what matters in divorce/separation situations is:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Who the custodial parent was (the parent with whom the student lived most during the 12 months prior to filing the FAFSA -- regardless of whether separated or divorced)</p></li>
<li><p>That parent's income and assets.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Similarly, the number of income tax exemptions you can claim by virtue of providing support for your children may not match the number of children you claim on the needs analysis form. Different rules for different purposes.</p>
<p>I realize that FAFSA does not require legal status to look at parental income- however private schools often have their own finaid forms and many schools will also request verification by submission of tax records- so while EFC may not reflect the difference in legal and casual marriage/unmarried status, the financial aid package very well may.</p>