<p>How would financial aid be affected by parents being separated and to what degree? They live in different states at this time, but the father earns all the income.</p>
<p>For FAFSA, the student reports only the income/assets of the custodial parent. Income includes untaxed items such as child support. Many schools that use Profile or other institutional forms will require the income/asset info of both parents.</p>
<p>Sk8rmom, is that true if parents are seperated as opposed to divorced? Any caveats, such as parents must not file joint tax return?</p>
<p>So, if the dad has all the income and their accounts are all still jointly held, will there not be any real effect on the aid?
What about the dad having to support 2 households?
Thanks</p>
<p>You may be able to file FAFSA just with the custodial parents income- which I assume would be the informal child support- but is it a formal separation?
FAFSA looks closer at income than expenses.</p>
<p>They are separated, but not legally, if there is a procedure that needs to be filed. The dad has all of the income.
I am not sure what you mean about the informal child support. The dad earns all of the income and is covering all expenses of both spouses.</p>
<p>The IRS considers partners who are informally separated to still be married.
However FAFSA allows the couple to be informally separated,however it will be up to the financial aid admin to determine which filing is correct.
[FinAid</a> | Financial Aid Applications | Head of Household](<a href=“Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid”>Head of Household - Finaid)</p>
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<p>There is no real difference, for FAFSA purposes, between separated and divorced. Separated parents can file joint tax returns but the custodial parent must split out their share of AGI, income from work, and taxes in order to file FAFSA correctly.</p>
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<p>Who is the custodial parent…sounds like the mom? They would report her share of the joint assets, any income/assets of the child, and any spousal maintenance/child support she is receiving. They will also have to report the date of separation and schools may ask for proof of this. If they are in a state that provides for legal separation that document would be the easiest to provide but schools will accept other froms of proof that separate residences are being maintained (ie. leases, utility bills, etc.).</p>
<p>sk8rmom, regarding the custodial, the dad would be the likely custodial (both kids are at school now til summer).
Would it matter much, for aid purposes, which parent is custodial?</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>The custodial parent is the one the student spent the most time with. If that is absolutely equal then the parent with the higher income is assumed to be the custodial parent.</p>
<p>I have a similar question: My husband and I are separated (not legally yet); he lives and works in a different state. Our two children live with me… so I assume that I will file the FAFSA and CSS profile and H will complete the CSS noncustodial parent form. He rents and I live in a house (which is in both our names, but I pay the mortgage). For the purpose of reporting assets (the value of the home) do I split the amount in half (on CSS on FAFSA or both). Also, my D gives me an (informally) agreed amount of funds every month …should I report this as child support or as something else?</p>
<p>Several years ago I spoke with financial aid officers at DDs school regarding DH being in another state, but though physically separated, we were not getting divorced, just working in different states. They said if the intent was to divorce, file as one parent custodial, if we were actually married, but physically separated, file as married. It seemed to be all about the intent.</p>
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<p>Not sure if I understand the statement, but would that not be bigamy and hence illegal? </p>
<p>If the dad is living with another women and they are not married, I am not sure that it will be reflected in FAFSA. In other words, any expenses relating to the other household will not count. Sk8rmom, may be you can weigh in.</p>