<p>Hi everyone, my parents are divorced and they currently possess 50/50 custody. My dad pays my mother alimony and child support. I'm going into my senior year this fall and will turn 18 in September. My problem is that my family has suffered some complexities and drama and my dad is no longer willing to pay for my college and I'll be living with my mother starting when I turn 18. Am I able to report only my mother's income when applying for financial aid? It would be a huge disadvantage if I had to report my father's income knowing that he would not aid me. I know FAFSA requires reporting the custodial parents income and defines a custodial parent in different ways. Any help would be appreciated.</p>
<p>The parent you reside with most during the 2013 calendar year is the one you MUST list as the custodial parent on your FAFSA. If you live with your parents an equal amount of time, you must report the one who is contributing most to your support, which is almost always the parent with the higher income. Those are the rules.</p>
<p>If you want to use only your mom’s income on the FAFSA, then you should plan to reside with her greater than 50% of the 2013 year…because then she would be your custodial parent.</p>
<p>You will need to check your colleges…as some using the CSS Profile require. On-custodial parent info also. AND some colleges,have their own financial aid form which asks for information about the non-custodial parents finances.</p>
<p>Ah great, that’s a relief for FAFSA at least, since it’s already 50/50 presently, when I start residing with my mother in September she would technically become my custodial parent because I’ll with live her for the remainder of 2013. I know college policies vary, but would it be similar to FAFSA’s policy in most cases? And where can I look for specific informations for colleges regarding their custodial parent policies?</p>
<p>Your custodial parent would be the same for all colleges. What you need to know is if a y of your colleges use the Profile, and if they do, do they require the non-custodial parent Profile. You also need to check if the school has its own financial aid form.</p>
<p>This should be found on the financial aid section of each college’s website.</p>
<p>Alright, thanks for the help!</p>
<p>You will need to include the spousal support that your dad pays your mom</p>
<p>and the child support that your dad pays your mom.
If you are a senior, your financial aid for school year 2014-2015 will be based on what is being paid this year 2013.</p>
<p>you wrote:</p>
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<p>Right now, you are living with your dad who will most likely be your custodial parent on the FAFSA (we are past the half way point of the year). If you have been living with him all along, he is the parent, whose income/assets you will use.</p>
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<p>Your dad will be the custodial parent, because you will have lived with him more in 2013 (when you move in with your mom in september (even if it is sept 1) you will have only 25% of your time with your mom-any time that you will spend at your dads.</p>
<p>so one strategy if you are planning to focus on FAFSA only schools would be to take a gap year so you establish your Mom as your custodial parent on the FAFSA application. </p>
<p>(As mentioned earlier if you apply to schools that use the profile (most top private schools) then both parents incomes will be considered whomever you live with).</p>
<p>@sybbie719</p>
<p>No, until now it’s been 50/50 custody, when I turn 18 in September I’ll be residing only with my mother as the divorce decree regarding custody will no longer be in effect. Therefore by the end of the year I should have spent around 75% of 2013 living with my mother.</p>
<p>What constitutes your 50/50 custody?<br>
You you alternate weeks between each house or do you switch homes every 4 days?<br>
Are you with one parent during the week and the other on he weekend?</p>
<p>During the summer, we alternate every other week, in the school year each parents gets me for 2 days during the week and the weekends alternate</p>
<p>If the split is even, then you use the parent who has the higher income.</p>
<p>Ah, but if the split isn’t even that’s the first thing to determine custodial status?</p>
<p>I think the OP is living 50/50 until September, when she will be living full time with them mom. If that is the case, she will be living more than 50% of 2013 with her mom…IF she lives 100% with her mom the remainder of the year.</p>
<p>OP…if it remains 50/50 still, you would report your dad because he provides most of your support.</p>
<p>I’m going to live with my mom in September so that shouldn’t be a problem. I suppose my next question is how would reporting the noncustodial parent’s income affect the amount of financial aid I receive?</p>
<p>It varies by school…but for most schools that request and use the non-custodial parent income and assets…those will be used in addition to your custodial parent income and assets to determine your financial need. The school will use info from both parents to determine if you qualify for institutional need based aid.</p>
<p>I suppose they’re assuming that both parents would be contributing to paying for my college tuition, however that isn’t the case with me. I suppose there’s no way around this?</p>
<p>The fact a parent doesn’t want to pay for college doesn’t change the obligation to contribute, in the college’s eyes. you would have to have some extraordinarily mitigating circumstances. And, documentable.</p>
<p>The school determines your financial need based on how much your parents are able to pay, not how much they want to pay. If the school ask for the income and assets of both your parents, it does not obligate either of your parents to pay (as it is any parents choice to pay for college and how much they want to pay). The school is not going to give you extra money because they are still first in line when it comes to paying for your education</p>
<p>Alright thanks everybody, that about answers all my questions</p>