Non-custodial parents and financial aid woes

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You're just concerned about financial aid, right? Just don't mention your father on your FAFSA or CSS. I only mentioned my mother, and the schools never asked me about my father.

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<p>Many schools that give their own instutional funds will have to grant a non-custodial waiver. At fafsa schools you only have to supply the income/assets of your custodial parent. Because there is a court ordered child support, there is contact and OP may not be able to non-custodial waiver because there is money coming from the non-custodial parent.</p>

<p>Also check your state becasue you may be able to go in and have an upward modification to your support order because your child is attending college (I know that this can be done in NY)</p>

<p>I am in the same situation. Depending on the state, child support ends at age 18. Your mother should know what the legal deal is, (and if you live in a state where it is possible to modify child support for a child older than age 18, she should get to it, because it takes many months to go through the process.) </p>

<p>So, at least in the short term, you are ool. I empathize with you, but I have known this in my own situation for a long time and am resigned to it.</p>

<p>What if you have a non-custodial parent who has never paid child support? My dad left my family 12 years ago and hasn't paid child support on any of his four children, all of which were under 18 when he left. He refuses to even write that he is unwilling to pay for any of my college tuition. I'm only a junior right now, so I'm not too well informed in the way of financial aid. Will colleges still expect him to contribute?</p>

<p>ricebunny--if you have been estranged, and no child support ever paid many colleges that require non custodial parent info would likely waive your father's. As several posts indicate ask the schools for an ncp waiver. More schools don't require his info--but only FAFSA which would only be your mother (and stepfather if there is one). good luck</p>

<p>Hi. Would anyone have any info as to how aid applications are regarded when the non custodial parent is a non-US citizen , has never resided in the US(and so has no US paper trail) and the parents have never been married? Without any legal proof of paternity, the non custodial parents name was listed on the birth certificate at the US embassy at time of birth (which of course was illegal on the part of the embassy). The child in question has only US citizenship. The country in question recognizes absolutely no connection between parents and thier children for which no paternity has been declared at the local government office.<br>
Dad changed jobs and left no forwarding address several years ago. Years ago I tried to get proof that the Dad and I had never had any legal connection from this government, but was told that since their had never been any legal documents linking us, it was impossible to verify that no legal link had ever existed. That is par for the course for this country.
Any onfo would be greatly appreciated. We are presently not residents of any particular state. My kid is homeschooled without being registered with any organization (she doesn't have citizenship here so the board of ed doesn't care), so no papers there. Thanks! College is in two years!</p>

<p>Get counselors/pastors/imams/any community leaders you know/et al. to write letters that testify to your situation.</p>

<p>Only the government only cares about full legal documentation, and they don't care about hon-custodial parents anyway, and most likely your schools will accept testimony of your situation.</p>

<p>hilbean- is your kid a US citizen or not? Your post is a bit confusing on this and that would make a difference to people answering you</p>

<p>Sure! My child is a US citizenship with a social security number. My child was born abroad, but this country does not give children of non-citizens (me) citizenship unless the parents are legally married and one parent is a citizen. I and the father were already separated at the time of birth.</p>

<p>My situation was incredibly similar to yours. My father lied about sending in paperwork for about 4 months until I did something. I didn't even know about the ncp waiver until I went and described my situation to a financial aid counselor at my school on a visit. She was incredibly helpful and got my waiver approved and financial aid package out within a week. I was sort of surprised it got passed because i still have contact with him and he pays child support. Don't loose hope, this college that accepted you obviously wants your child to attend and should help you out in this awful situation.</p>

<p>Will it work if one calls her ex up, and have a tape recorder ready while he's goaded into making a statement that admits his crime? ("Yeah, damn right I didn't sign your son's stupid form, serves you right for divorcing me!")</p>

<p>Just a quick question. If child support is ending next year (when I start college), and the college I'm going to took child support (from the previous year) into account when creating my financial aid for next year, does that mean they may change it if I call and tell them it's ending? Also, I think the amount paid by the non-custodial this (last?) year may have also had funds in it for my sibling, who has since turned eighteen and no longer receives money. So do the financial aid people have some way of already knowing this, and will it make any difference if they do, or should I just call?</p>

<p>STRANDLIB--tell them of that change now and some schools will even modify fin aid later in game if you can demonstrate significant fin change.</p>

<p>They will have no way of knowing it. You will need to tell them. They will probably ask for some sort of documentation showing the child support is ending. It is something they can make an adjustment to your FAFSA for.</p>

<p>Here is a link to a finaid page with some information about special circumstance adjustments.
FinAid</a> | Professional Judgment | Special Circumstances</p>

<p>I requested my ex pay for college expenses. However the ruling that came in NY, when my 2 children were 5 and 8 stated that "they were too young to even know if they would be interested in attending college........"
Therefore, they said I would have to take it back to court at a later date.
However, as I am still fighting to pay for the $100,000. I am owed in back support for 17 years, it doesn't pay for me to just add on to money I will never see. I have sacrificed my whole life to make sure my children have a good education, and I pat myself on the back for helping to make it happen on my own.</p>

<p>My ex hasn’t paid child support in over a decade. We will now have both kids in college and
their stepdad and I are footing the majority of the bill. One of the schools is very expensive and my ex won’t provide extra money for her to attend. We have three other children together and want them to go to college,too. Because of my husband’s salary, we hardly got any financial aid. My ex has never remarried and it is frustrating that he is not willing to help his kids. It isn’t their fault we got divorced. We live in VA. The children have regular contact with their father. Any advice to help us?</p>

<p>butterbean…this thread is TWO years old…you would be better served starting a new thread.</p>

<p>Colleges that require information from the non-custodial parent will not care whether your ex WILL pay…they only care about what he CAN pay…and they will expect him to do so.</p>

<p>If you don’t want your ex’s income and assets to be considered, have your kiddos apply to FAFSA ONLY schools or Profile schools that do not require the non-custodial parent information. That way only yours and your current husband’s information will be required for the disbursal of need based aid.</p>