Divorced with a College-Bound Student?

    Any parent can get confused when applying for federal student aid for a college-bound student. For divorced parents, however, it can be more difficult. In order for a student to get financial aid from the United States Department of Education (EOD), his or her parents must fill out a Free Application For Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). When the student’s parents are divorced, the rules for the form can be tricky. 

All the resources sustaining the custodial parent's household can be used to calculate the family's expected contribution and then award federal aid to college students, according to Maureen Sigler, a financial aid counselor at Boise State University  in Idaho, and Mark Kantrowitz, FinAid.org publisher and financial aid expert. They recommend every student fill out the forms “to know what you are eligible to receive is to complete the FAFSA,” Sigler said. 

Among the most commonly asked questions for divorced parents with college-age students seeking federal financial aid:

1. Which parent should fill out the financial application forms for a college-bound student?
Sigler said “Families will sometimes, mistakenly, include the income information for both legal parents. The FAFSA is requesting information from just one parent...." Sigler said. Kantrowitz said the parent who fills out the form isn't necessarily the parent who has "primary custody" as the court defines it. It should be, he said, the parent the child lives with most often is the one who should fill out the forms. In situations where parents split custody 50-50, "...the financial aid office will likely choose whichever parent has the highest income.” In the event that a student’s parent hasn't maintained contact with the child, Kantrowtiz said he or she is simply not the custodial parent. “Only one parent’s household income information is included on the FAFSA, so the student would likely use the information for the parent who is still around,” Sigler added. One answer does not fit all situations. Generally, there is probably little impact on the student’s financial aid.”  

2. If you're not divorced yet, how should the forms be filled out?
Not all parents are officially divorced when it comes time to file the application for student aid. Both Kantrowitz and Sigler said if a couple is separated and planning to divorce, they are considered divorced in terms of financial aid. “If the separation is with the intent to divorce, and the parents are living in separate locations, there is no difference in qualifying for aid. The reason is because it is appropriate to list only the information for the custodial parent's household,” Sigler said. Kantrowitz, however, warns that co-habituating parents who claim they are separated do not count as separated. “If the husband is living in the basement and the wife upstairs, that doesn’t count … it has to be two separate residences,” he said. “That is often a misconception, and the schools will generally be suspicious if the separate residences is something temporary is like a hotel room.”