Though non-dependent students can complete their form alone, the FAFSA is a classic student-parent exercise. That said, if your parents are divorced, things can get a bit complicated.
However, no one’s family situation should hold them back from receiving federal aid. Whether it’s your first or last time with the FAFSA, new circumstances can change things up from the norm, and there are some things you’ll need to do differently on your form.
Here are a few tips for students of divorced parents as they work through the FAFSA.
1. Who’s a “Parent”?
The FAFSA uses your family’s financial situation to determine your eligibility for aid. You’ll need income info from your parents, but this is where it gets just a little tricky…
Whom can you count as a parent on your FAFSA? This seems pretty straightforward, and if your parents are married & living together, it is.
But not so much for children of divorced parents. The question of parentage is important because it determines your expected family contribution. The EFC formula factors in your family’s tax info, untaxed income, assets, and various benefits. It also looks at family size and how many other students/dependents from your family will be attending college during the year.
So which parent’s information gets entered?
The U.S Department of Education provided this handy infographic for defining legally recognized roles in your family network. Basically, If your parents are not divorced, you will fill out the FAFSA using info from both parents. But if they are divorced, only one parent is officially considered a “parent” as far as the FAFSA’s calculations are concerned.
However, note that if your parents live together—even if they’re separated, divorced, or were never married—you will file the FAFSA with income info from both parents. Otherwise, all students with separated or unmarried parents who live apart will fill out the FAFSA using info based on the parent with custody.
If the student switches off between households, living alternately with both parents, then the parent with whom you live more often counts as having custody for FAFSA’s purposes.
Ready for one more exciting complication?
Having “legal custody” does not necessarily count as being the custodial parent. Yes, really. Again, on the FAFSA, it’s all about the parent with whom you live more often. So what if you live with both parents equally?
Then fill out the FAFSA based on the parent who provided more financial support during the previous year. But what about step-parents or a parent’s non-spouse partner?
If your parents don’t live together and your custodial parent is remarried, you will report that step-parent’s information on your FAFSA. If your custodial parent lives with a new partner to whom they are not legally married, then just report your custodial parent’s income info.
But wait!
If your parent’s unmarried partner is supporting you financially, any of these contributions (like rent, etc.) must be listed as non-taxable income.
What about a common-law spouse? Okay, one more complication…
If your parent and their unmarried partner have been together for a certain amount of time—and essentially live like a married couple, your state might recognize this as a common-law union. In this case, you will count the custodial parent’s partner as a step-parent.
And finally, if you live with a guardian who is not your parent, you still have to report your parent/parents’ info on the FAFSA as outlined above…
That is, unless the guardian in question has legally adopted you!
2. What You Still Have to Do
Regardless of your parents’ marital status, you’ll always need to provide the following info on your FAFSA:
- Your Social Security number
- Your parents’ Social Security numbers
- Your driver’s license number
- You alien registration number (if you’re a non-citizen)
- Federal tax info for you and your custodial parent
- Info about untaxed income, for you and your custodial parent
- Info about cash and liquid assets, investments, and business income
- The date your parents’ divorced or separated
Some schools require a copy of the divorce agreement to decide your financial aid package, but you won’t need that info right when you submit the FAFSA.
3. Oversharing Info Is a Mistake
Just to reiterate, you don’t need to include the financial info of every significant adult/guardian figure in your life. Students who do this run the risk of losing out on financial aid. Focus your application on the custodial parent – easy peasy.
Non-custodial parents may be required to provide info to certain private schools when federal aid gets awarded, but this will come later if at all.
Note also that alimony is considered “taxable income,” so it should already be included in the custodial parent’s tax info. Don’t report it separately (like you would with child support, for example) This would be another example of oversharing, and it can also potentially limit your federal aid offer.
As a final word of caution, you may realize a certain advantage of having divorced, separated, or unmarried parents. On the FAFSA, if your listed custodial parent makes less money than the other parent, your EFC becomes lower and your aid package might be improved for this. That said, do not falsely report who you live with to get a better package – that’s fraud, and it’s illegal.