<p>Here’s the thing . . . depending on what type of school she ends up at, what type of merit and need based aid she might be in line for and what your ability to fill the gap is the prudent answer could be very different. If she is at a FAFSA only school her need will be calculated based on which parent she lives with most. I don’t know for sure so it would be worth checking out, but I would think that should mesh with who claims her on their taxes. If new wife has income it would be included in that calculation even though she has three other children. However . . . the three other children might help to reduce taxable income in terms of exemptions. There are so many different ways that this could work out which would have a bigger hit to the pocketbook than a 2k tax credit. </p>
<p>I would advise running some test numbers to try to estimate three possibilities:
FAFSA only with ex as custodial
FAFSA only with you as custodial
CSS Profile which includes both households usually</p>
<p>Compare those outcomes to what you think you can pay between you then consider how much merit aid she might be able to secure based on her academic profile. It will be tricky in your situation but it’s better to try to figure this out now. He bills next fall will be in part based on what you guys decide to do for taxes this year.</p>