<p>My friend's daughter is applying for college funding and is submitting her application through FAFSA. My friend and his ex-wife have been divorced for years and the ex has decided they would be eligible for more funding if they petition for a waiver of the non custodial profile on the grounds the Dad has moved away and the contact is minimal. They believe that will eliminate the requirement that he inform FAFSA of the child support he is currently paying for the support of his daughter. The ex is not going to include the current child support he is paying on her profile because she is hoping that she can argue that he is currently paying for past support. My friend is very conflicted. He wants his daughter to get as much aid as she can but does not believe that he should compromise his integrity, to say nothing of the message his daughter is getting that lying and cheating is the way you get what you want. His daughter is nearly hysterical about this and has said she will never talk to him again if he sends in the required non custodial profile. It is difficult for him to see his daughter so distraught but he understands that if they are caught there would be serious consequences for this daughter. What should he do? File his profile or let the ex try to pull a fast one on FAFSA?</p>
<p>FAFSA doesn’t require NCP info so that is irrelevant, but it does require reporting of child support and alimony. If the mother doesn’t include that money the FAFSA info and tax info won’t match and the schools will find it to reconcile the differences. Paying for past support is also irrelevant. If the school requires the CSS Profile and NCP info the family would have to request a waiver which is reviewed on a case-by-case basis. IMO this family won’t qualify because there is obviously contact. None of this will affect the FAFSA calculations. They go based on tax info.</p>
<p>Child support payments are REQUIRED. If the student receives any need based aid by providing false information, then it is considered fraud. They risk losing their offer of admission, their aid…and can be subject to a hefty fine.</p>
<p>Your friend is wrong. Her ex husband could live on the moon, and she would still be required to report child support and spousal support on the FAFSA and profile.</p>
<p>OH…and some schools will expect the kid’s dad to complete a non-custodial parent Profile as well. The kid needs to understand that if this is required, her application for institutional aid will NOT be processed at all until the college’s receive it. The kid needs to understand that NOT sending it is going to put a huge monkey wrench in her financial aid application…and getting hysterical over a required submission is not helpful.</p>
<p>The father is correct…and he should file the Profile. Period.</p>
<p>There is no upside to being dishonest on these applications. Colleges frown on dishonesty at all levels. </p>
<p>She could apply to FAFSA-only schools, but as previously noted, mom’s information would include alimony and child support received.</p>
<p>Do not commit fraud!</p>
<p>So the daughter feels entitled? Is actually threatening to stop speaking to Dad if he is honest. There is a much bigger problem here. I’d be putting college talks on the back burner until there was some mutual respect for both the parents and the law. </p>
<p>Yes. If my kid ever exoected me to be dishonest…that would be a huge red flag that they are not ready for college…at all.</p>
<p>The mother (ex) is the one signing the FAFSA if the child lives with her the most. It is up to her to include all sources of income, including child support. If the father (your friend) is requested to file Profile info, he should. I don’t know how he would know which schools to send it to if daughter/mother don’t tell him.</p>
<p>Even if he doesn’t send in the NCP form it doesn’t mean the school will just disregard his income and grant the waiver. If he doesn’t send it in, the school will ask the daughter for it or mark the file as incomplete and perhaps refuse to award financial aid at all. The daughter could then submit a NCP waiver, claiming his whereabouts are unknown and they have no contact. How could she prove this? He’s THERE. If he pays child support through a registry, there is evidence he IS involved. </p>
<p>Wondering if this is really a “friend”?</p>
<p>She has to report child support received. There is no difference for when it was for, past or current–there is nothing to ‘argue’ it is by calendar year. Getting federal money through fraud is serious business, FAFSA is a federal form. Getting money from the college under false pretenses could result in legal problems and needing to return the funds, but would certainly result in a rescinded admission, or being kicked out if it was found later. Some colleges verify everyone, some a lot, some one in three etc.</p>
<p>It doesn’t sound like she would get a waiver. How will they verify that, the mother will lie, she will lie, they will get 3rd parties to lie for them also? He really needs to address this issue of character with her. He should probably shut this down by calling the GC at her school.</p>
<p>BUT he does not supply anything for FAFSA only the parent does, it doesn’t ask for noncustodial info. Only CSS Profile and some college specific financial forms do.</p>
<p>I would suggest that your “friend” open her own CC account…and pose her own questions. It’s free, and the information posted here would not be second hand.</p>
<p>Primary Custodian should fill out the FAFSA accurately and honestly, including acknowledging exactly how much child support she receives.</p>
<p>If NCP is requested by any school (not all schools ask) to fill out NCP Profile, he should do so accurately and honestly.</p>
<p>If his daughter has threatened to never talk to him again, and he is paying CS, then there is quite indisputably contact now and they will not be granted an NCP waiver.</p>
<p>Father should examine his finances and determine how much support he can provide to his child directly if there are no unexpected developments (like getting laid off work), and tell her straight up what he can do. She’s nearly an adult, she needs to understand adult economics. If he’s well off, it could be plenty; if he’s had to put off paying other debts until CS ends, it could be less than CS, possibly nothing.</p>
<p>If Mother has not remarried and is the sole adult in the custodial household, then they should get a pretty favorable FA analysis. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Really…this would only be for schools that do NOT require the non-custodial parent information. This would be especially true if the non-Cuatodial parent info is required and that parent has a very high income. </p>
<p>And it would also depend on the level of child support. If the custodial parent has a lower earned income from a job…but is receiving very high child support payments, this would not generate a favorable financial aid analysis either.</p>
<p>Yea, too hard to tell but just because “mother has not remarried and is sole adult custodian” really has nothing to do with it. What if Mom is a highly paid attorney or doctor or just highly paid anything? I am remarried but the two of us actually make less than I did when I was single due to unforeseen circumstances. Bio dad makes four times what we make but that doesn’t mean he’ll pay 4x what we pay…nothing is relative here.</p>
<p>“If the custodial parent has a lower earned income from a job…but is receiving very high child support payments, this would not generate a favorable financial aid analysis either.”</p>
<p>CS ends by law in most (not all) states when the child reaches 18 or graduates from HS. They pretty much have to calculate the EFC with that limitation.</p>
<p>Agreed that NCP Profile is a different animal.</p>
<p>The NCP should provide the information required, and wait; when the ex commits fraud against the Federal government, report her, and if he’s lucky she could go to prison. His daughter’s EFC drops to zero, and she learns a valuable lesson about complying with the law (as well as a valuable lesson about what kind of person her mother is). Win for his daughter, win for him!</p>
<p>The EFC is based on the prior year’s income, and ‘they’ don’t remove child support that may or may not end. If the custodial parent earned $50k and got $10k in child support, then income is $60k. Many states do end ordered child support at HS, but people can agree to something else so there is no way for the FAFSA formulas to estimate what changes will be to income.</p>
<p>Do they not specifically ask on FAFSA how much CS will be received in the next year? I know they ask that on CSS NCP Profile, which I recently completed. (They also ask what the NCP expected contribution to college expenses is, and whether there is any agreement in place specifying that support.)</p>
<p>If NCP Profile can ask directly, then surely it’s not correct to say there is “no way” for FAFSA to obtain/use the same information. </p>
<p>One great advantage US universities have with US applicants/students is that they can require the parents to authorize tax information be sent directly from the IRS. Rest assured that if one wishes to put fraudulent information on a financial aid form, s/he better be prepared to follow through on the fraud with the Federal Government, in claiming child support and alimony payments. As @BrownParent said:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I would be surprised if it isn’t becoming standard to verify as return information. It seemed to be a standard practice when UC requested it from me. It was a simple ‘FAFSA Update’ after tax-filing season.</p>
<p>Are child support payments reported on IRS forms? (I’ve never gotten any until this year but don’t recall seeing the question on a tax form, only on FAFSA).</p>
<p>@OHMomof2, I stand corrected. I should have checked irs.gov before posting:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I guess they are invisible. Alimony payments are definitely included in tax returns; but I see that is not in the original post.</p>
<p>Child support received by Custodial Parent in taxable year should be reported on both FAFSA and CSS Profile, even if it is considered back child support.</p>
<p>If a School requires NCP Profile, NCP should provide it.
An NCP waiver cannot be received, since there is contact, and the Child Support is proof of that.</p>