<p>*Younger siblings still get child support. *</p>
<p>there may not be any younger siblings.</p>
<p>And…even if there were, that support is for them…it’s not for the college student.</p>
<p>Child support is paid to the CP for general household use. There is no requirement that it be spent on a specific child’s food, clothing, or activities. Child support is supposed to include a share of shelter, utilities, transportation, and other household expenses. The amount of child support is already reported on the CP’s FAFSA as income, same as wages or any other income. The point is that NCP would not report it again on the proposed NCP FAFSA.</p>
<p>It’s the same principle, in reverse, for income taxes. The NCP pays income tax on the child support. The CP doesn’t pay income tax a second time on that amount.</p>
<p>Also, there will be younger sibling child support in effect, for all but the last one in college.</p>
<p>Child support is paid to the CP for general household use.</p>
<p>Right…but the amount paid is based on the number of minor children. It goes down as the children reach majority. </p>
<p>It’s ridiculous that a CP is supposed to think that a reduced child support payment (after older child goes to college) is enough to support the minor child AND to contribute to the college kid.</p>
<p>If CP earns 25k and gets $12k per year in child support for 2 children (and half will end when child goes to college)</p>
<p>and NCP earns 150k.</p>
<p>Then that $6k added to the 25k will not provide an adequate picture of what the parents should be contributing.</p>
<p>@mom2collegekids - your numbers are a little off. At those income levels, child support for 2 kids would be a lot more than $12K/year. There are two or three main child support methods used by all states, but TX (not my state) is the simplest to understand. It doesn’t consider CP income and still gives results in the same ballpark as other states. Using real numbers with the TX guidelines:</p>
<p>NCP $120K gross, $84K net after taxes
CS 3 kids: $25K/year
CS 2 kids: $21K/year
CS 1 kid: $16.8K/year</p>
<p>I believe it’s true of all states that child support isn’t linear with the number of kids; it doesn’t halve going from 2 kids to 1.</p>
<p>You point out that the CP EFC shouldn’t increase much due to child support, and that’s fine. I’m saying look at it from the NCP side. With the first of 3 in college and still paying CS for 2, the $84K net drops to $63K. That’s about half of the $120K gross. If the NCP would get income and asset protection on the FAFSA, the $63K drops even more. This is what I found playing around with different FinAid calculators, and am trying to point out here.</p>