Can I prevent my ex from seeing my new address on my children's FAFSA application?

The FAFSA doesn't actually require both parents' addresses when they're divorced - only the address of the parent completing the form. If your ex is the one submitting the FAFSA, your address shouldn't appear anywhere on it. The system asks for the student's address and the address of the parent who's completing the form.

my daughter had same situation last year with her dad. they only ask for the adress of the parent doing the fafsa. BUT make sure your kids know to not put your adress as thier adress on the form!!!! thats how my ex found out where we moved. have your kids use their dads adress as thier permanent or a school adress if their in college already.

This is a common concern in situations involving separated parents. To give you complete clarity on this issue: 1. The FAFSA only requires the address of the parent who provides the financial information (the contributing parent). 2. For dependent students, they need to list THEIR permanent address. This is where the potential privacy issue exists. 3. Your safest option is to have your children list their father's address as their permanent address on the FAFSA, even if they split time between both homes. 4. If your children are already in college, they can use their campus address instead. 5. If you're concerned about official correspondence, you can also set up mail forwarding or use a trusted relative's address temporarily. This approach ensures your privacy while maintaining FAFSA compliance.

Been EXACTLY where you are!!! When I left my ex I didn't want him knowing where we moved either. The FAFSA does NOT show your address to your ex, BUT your child's address will be visible to him. Make SURE your kids don't put your new address as theirs!!! They should either use their dad's address or a school address. Also be careful with the FSA ID setup emails - they sometimes include the address that was entered. Double-check everything before submitting!

U might want to make sure ur ex doesn't have access to kids phone or computer bc he could see ur adress in their contacts or if they saved it somewhere. FAFSA wont show it but just saying be careful with other stuff too

I tried calling FSA about a similar issue last year and was on hold FOREVER. If you need to talk to an actual person at Federal Student Aid, you might want to try Claimyr.com - they got me through to a real person in about 10 minutes when I had been trying for days on my own. They have a video showing how it works here: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ. It was worth it for me just to get a definitive answer about my situation directly from FSA.

everyone here is giving good advice but also check with your kids school financial aid office!!! some schools have their own forms that ask for both parents info and addresses even if divorced. the FAFSA is fine but CSS profile and school-specific forms might be different.

One additional tip: For the CSS Profile (which some private colleges require), you can specifically request an address privacy block if you have documented safety concerns. Contact the College Board directly about this option if any of your children's schools require the CSS Profile. They have protocols in place for situations exactly like yours.

Just wanted to add that you should also be careful about any state-specific financial aid forms your kids might need to fill out. Some states have their own grant programs with separate applications that could ask for different address information than the FAFSA. I'd recommend checking your state's higher education website to see what forms they require and whether they have similar privacy protections. Also, if your kids qualify for any need-based aid, make sure the school sends all correspondence to the address you want (not automatically to the student's listed address). Most schools will let you specify a preferred mailing address for financial aid documents if you call their office directly.