This separation of finances might be more common than we believe…but it can’t work for completing the FAFSA and Profile.
Sorry…but it will take hoops and hoops to get it done with all this secret stuff.
Like I said, I’ve seen families where they don’t share the info. Some of them pay their tax preparer to fill out all these forms along with the income tax returns. No one seemed particularly interested in the info per se, just the bottom line.
The only way (other than not applying for financial aid at all) this could possibly work if the parents who do not trust each other with their financial information both trust the same third party who can get information from each parent separately in order to run net price calculators and fill in financial aid forms like FAFSA and (if needed) CSS Profile.
The OP must have a rough estimate of what his/her spouse earns. At least a range. The OP should also know if the spouse is a spender or a saver.
And he/she knows his/her own earnings and savings.
Run the Net Price Calculators based on guesstimate incomes/assets and see what the results are. Very likely the child wouldn’t be getting much or anything.
Unless this is a second marriage (albeit a long one) this whole thing seems very unusual. If they were to divorce, I think earnings/assets would have to be revealed.
The 3rd party preparer sounds like the easiest solution and not just for FAFSA but CSS Profile too.
However both parents must agree on how much they’ll provide (ie., $15,000 or $20,000 or $30,000 each or whatever, depending on EFC and whether their child is going to attend a public or private university. )
I don’t see how a third party preparer solves the problem. Once each parent sees the report, it’s easy to figure out the other’s income and assets. It’s simle subtraction.
We are not married, in a state that does not recognize common law marriage. We have always kept separate finances (23 years). Without going into details I don’t know how honest he would be reporting his finances to anyone. He does not want me to know his financial situation and at this point vice-versa. Life isn’t always cookie-cutter perfect and most times it’s complicated.
One parent would have to file as the ‘custodial’ parent, and that parent would have the FSA ID number and that parent could use the tax retrieval tool (presume one parent files as HOH?). The other parent’s income and assets would be included on the FAFSA, so it’s very likely this family would be selected for verification since the tax info and the reported info will be so different (and some schools verify randomly and others verify everyone). The 3rd party preparer would have to handle this as it is likely the school(s) will ask for copies of W2 to pack up the income. Both parents would have to be familiar with what FAFSA includes, which is all income, all bank accounts, current 401k contributions, and provide that info to the FAFSA preparer.
You’d really have no way to dispute the SAR numbers, to know if your Estimated Family Contribution (EFC) is even close to accurate, although a 3rd party preparer who is familiar with FAFSA/CSS might pick up any errors. This would probably be a third party who has kids in college because most just want know the ins and outs of FAFSA and many not think to double check the EFC numbers. We often see shocked parents post that the EFC is $80k when it should be closer to $20k and the issue is that a 401k roll over was included in income or that a simple math mistake was made in the input of the income or asset value. You just wouldn’t have any way to know if the EFC is right or wrong unless you knew both sets of numbers.
My kids did not need their or my FSA IDs to take out the direct loans. The schools just set up the pre-loan counseling for them, the master promissory note, and then the actual loans each year. Only thing they needed was a SSN. They took loans out from 2015-18, so I don’t know if things were different before or after that.
Then really…please help your child find schools where merit aid will give the necessary aid for her to attend. Or find affordable colleges without considering the second parent income. If he can’t be counted on to be honest about finances (I would hope someone would require him to bring his tax return in to complete the income portion of the forms…and ALL of his account statements and whatever else is necessary for assets) then how can you count on this parent to pay their share of college costs.
@twoinanddone
No. These parents would file as living together but not married. One would not file as the custodial parent. BOTH parents, as you noted, would be required in terms of information. But since they don’t file a joint tax return, they cannot use the data retrieval tool…at all.
Re: the federally funded loans…unless something has changed, both of my kids needed the FSA ID numbers to access their loan information, etc. @kelsmom could you clarify this?
So @YikesAlready start looking at options YOU know YOU can afford. Look at places where your student can get significant merit aid. Look at all options that are affordable including community college then transfer to four year to finish.
If your finances and life are that complicated, and not cookie cutter, don’t put your kid in the position of not being able to pay for colleges she gets accepted to. Find affordable options with your income only, and/or with merit aid.
And then forget about these financial aid forms.
I have another idea to help you.
Have you considered moving out, and getting your own place with your kid…and therefore you would not be living with this other parent?
If you are indeed honestly living in separate places, not married, you would file the FAFSA as a single custodial parent. The income and assets of the non-custodial parent would not be included on the FAFSA. Any child or spousal support would be included. In this way, only your income would be on the FAFSA form. If your filing status on the FAFSA is single, and your tax filing status is single, you would be able to use the IRS DRT to complete the FAFSA.
If you use the DRT to import your income (as a single parent) then your kid won’t be able to see it on the FAFSA either…it’s encrypted.
This won’t help you with Profile schools that require the non custodial parent form. For the Profile, you would complete it as the custodial parent, and the other parent would complete the non-custodial parent Profile. This is set up so that the non-custodial parent (in your case, the other parent…if you move out with your kid) can complete it but it is inaccessible to you and your child.
You can look for Profile schools that don’t require the non custodial parent form.
If he’s secretive and untrustworthy I wouldn’t sign any document that requires his information. How much can you afford to pay on your own? Unless you can get him to commit to paying something – and believe he’ll follow through for all 4 years – that and whatever merit your child can earn may be the budget.
I’d start by finding a financial safety. What state are you in? Can you afford a state school? If not, are any within commuting distance?
Have you discussed college and how much it costs with him? What does he expect your child to do after high school?
The parents aren’t married, so their tax filing status isn’t ‘married filing separately.’ They file either as single of HOH. The FAFSA started requiring the income of both bio (or adoptive) parents living together to be included on the FAFSA in around 2015, so they must have a way to do it.
The current FSA ID system was started in 2015, which was the first year my kids did the loans. I know they didn’t ask me for the FSA ID’s to do the master promissory note, and they didn’t ask for them for the exit counseling either or to set up payments.
The FAFSA does require the incomes of both parents even if not married (if they are living together), but there is NO way to use the DRT to import info from two separate income tax returns. So no…they don’t “have a way to do that”. In this case, the info needs to be manually entered…for both parent, and they should be prepared to order tax transcripts for both parents to verify income tax return information.
Sometimes, too often, one parent does not cooperate with the financial aid process. It’s happened in my extended family where someone gets on his high horse and fells it’s “no one’s damned business what I make”. Which is fine unless you are looking for financial aid. You want a mortgage, financial aid for your kid, any loan, you gotta give it up.
But some of these coots die on that broken down sword of theirs in that they do refuse to give up financial aid info , refuse to fill out the FAFSA or PROFILE , and the kid can’t get financial aid. It happens all of the time.
You have a bit of an out with FAFSA if it’s the non Custodial parent who’s Giving flak because you don’t need info from that parent. But if it’s the Custodial parent or, if like in this case that parent is living in same home, you have a problem.
You need to ask your co-parent what he can pay for your child’s college. Ask him to run his numbers through a FAFSA EFC estimator and see what the government says he should be paying given 2018 tax return info which FAFSA links into , and current assets. Run your numbers through it and see what the results are for you. Add the two pieces and you get some idea, not accurate , but some idea what you are expected to pay. If he refuses to cooperate at all in giving up info for financial aid, then your kid can’t get any. The options for college come down to what you and his father will pay each year along with what your student has saved up and can earn summers and part time. Have you even discussed college with your son’s father? What colleges are on your minds? What does he think are options? How does he think college is going to be paid? He does know that it costs money to go to college, does he not? To get financial aid, he has to give up his income and asset info, with verification if asked. The time has come to face all of this.
What sort of college are you and your son contemplating ? Community or other local college? Going away to State U or other away school? Private college?
When you run those two separate net price calculators, you need to delete any duplicate financial aid awards. Schools aren’t going to give double grants. They aren’t going to give double loans. They aren’t going to give two Pell Grants. They aren’t going to give double work study awards.
Only one of each of the above.
The grant or scholarship monies awarded based on two incomes could be substantially less than what you see by adding those two separate numbers together.
Really, it’s more to get an idea where the other parent is in terms of finances. If he gets a zero EFC … that tells you something. If the EFC says full pay everywhere, it means all you are going to get from financial aid are loan options
I don’t see how the dad is going to agree to run the NPCs separately and tell OP what it says. All OP would have to do is subtract her EFC to get his. She knows their housing situation (rental or owned) so it shouldn’t be difficult to get an estimate of his net worth. I can’t imagine he’d want that.
If you want/need aid for your kid and you qualify on your own then living separately, as mentioned upthread, could help. Do you know your own EFC? What are your child’s stats? Are they high enough for merit?
If dad won’t say what he is willing to pay, won’t give up financials for FAFSA, wants no info on what he’s going to be expected to pay, kid has to go to what’s affordable by mom and self. That’s what my friend’s kids had to do. With a father a surgeon making a very high income. Daughter worked through college, went to local state school, got degree in 3 years , commutes from mother’s Place. She did get Direct loans , a bit in state grants, maybe A bit of PELL but not a lot. She got through college mainly on sweat equity and living with her mother. In retrospect, they probably filled out the FAFSA incorrectly as Dad would give gifts sporadically, bought her car, paid her insurance, all supposed to be untaxed income to the student
If the insurance is in the daughter’s name I can see how that might be considered income to the student, but where does it say that if parents give their child gifts or a car it has to be counted as income to the child?
“Money received, or paid on your behalf (e.g., bills), not reported elsewhere on this form. This includes money that your received from a parent or other person whose financial information is not reported on this form and that is not part of the legal child support agreement. “
That includes non Custodial parents. Even medical bills paid on kid’s behalf are supposed to be included. There is dispute regarding support prior to going to college. But none regarding support while in college