Pending Divorce and Tax Returns

Paying for College
1

<p>Hello,</p>

<p>I'm a freshman in college, looking to transfer with 95% confidence. My parents have been in the process of getting divorced for the past few months now, and will hopefully finish by the new year. </p>

<p>My mother and sister moved out, and both my parents now have different permanent residences. </p>

<p>What I was wondering about, is since the divorce probably won't happen until the end of this year, will my parents still file as married for 2007 tax returns? And if so, how would custodial parent work if I only receive support and live with one of them? </p>

<p>Neither of my parents make large sums of money--my dad owns his own business which isn't that successful, and my mom was on disability for a large part of 2007, putting her under 40k.</p>

<p>Will I be able to receive aid based on the parent who supports me? Will colleges acknowledge that even if the tax returns state married, that the impending divorce will make the financial situation different in the upcoming school year? Any comments on what to do concerning my financial status in general would be appreciated.</p>

2

<p>If transfer students get financial aid the same way everyone else does, then they take into account both parents, as they expect both to contribute.</p>

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<p>Tyler...not accurate totally. For FAFSA only schools, if parents are divorced, NO INFORMATION is requested for the non-custodial parent.</p>

<p>For PROFILE schools, info is obtained from BOTH parents regardless of marital status. </p>

<p>So the question to the OP...does your transfer school require the Profile?</p>

4

<p>It seems that all of them do except WashU. =/ Correct me if I'm wrong--
Emory, Rice, WashU, Columbia, Cornell, Yale</p>

<p>I guess this isn't looking good for me financially. Another question based on the new information--if I qualify for a pell grant through the fafsa based only on my custodial parent, will that be taken away when colleges consider both parents with the CSS profile?</p>

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<p>If you're already 18 when your parents divorce, does the court even name a custodial parent? How does FAFSA deal with this?</p>

6

<p>I believe the custodial parent is the one the student resides with and who contributes more than 1/2 of their support.</p>

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<p>FAFSA and Profile treat separated parents the same as divorced parents. For FAFSA, you put down only the info for the custodial parent (the one you lived with most during the 12 months prior to completing the aid form). No info on the non-custodial parent.</p>

<p>Profile will want both parent's info-- just indicate they are separated.</p>

8

<p>Thanks for all your input guys! Looks like I will just be inputting them as separated--hopefully it will help me out with my finances.</p>