FAFSA confusion after divorce - ex wants to claim college son as dependent, will they be responsible?

For FAFSA purposes, the parent who the student lived with the most in the past 12 months is the parent responsible for completing the FAFSA. This is separate from who claims the student as a tax dependent. So if your son lived with you the majority of the last 12 months (prior to going to college), you would complete the FAFSA regardless of who claims him as a tax dependent. The new FAFSA (for 2025-2026) still follows this rule. Tax dependency and FAFSA dependency are two different things. Your ex claiming your son on taxes doesn't automatically make him responsible for the FAFSA.

im in a similar situation w/ my ex. we switch off years claiming our daughter for taxes but i ALWAYS do the fafsa bcuz she lives with me most of the time. your ex might be able to claim him for taxes but that dosent change who does fafsa. its based on where kid lives not tax stuff

Tax dependency and FAFSA dependency are completely separate issues. For FAFSA, the determining factor is which parent provided more than 50% of the student's support and had the student living with them for the majority of the year before college. The parent who claims the student as a tax dependent has no bearing on FAFSA. However, I recommend documenting your custodial arrangement carefully. If your ex tries to argue about this later, having records showing your son lived with you most of the time will be helpful. The divorce decree may not mention FAFSA specifically, but any documentation about physical custody could be useful. Also, be aware that the FAFSA has changed starting with the 2024-2025 application. The term "dependent" is now "contributor" on the FAFSA, but the basic rules about which parent completes it haven't changed in your situation.

The FAFSA formula uses the custodial parent's information, not the tax claiming parent. I went through the exact same thing! My ex tried to say he should do the FAFSA because he claimed our son on taxes, but that's not how it works. The financial aid office at my son's college confirmed this for me. Just document that your son lived with you most of the year before college.

I tried calling Federal Student Aid to get clarity on this exact situation last year when my ex and I were arguing about it. It was literally IMPOSSIBLE to get through - I spent hours on hold and got disconnected three times. Finally, I tried Claimyr (claimyr.com) which connected me to an FSA agent in about 15 minutes. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ The FSA agent confirmed that the parent who the student lived with more (you in this case) completes the FAFSA, regardless of who claims them as a tax dependent. They even emailed me documentation I could show my ex. Totally worth it to get the official answer.

My sister went thru this last yr. Her ex claimed their daughter on taxes but sister still did FAFSA. Financial aid doesnt care about taxes they care about where kid lives!!! Your ex is just trying to get tax benefit but FAFSA is your responsibility still. Don't let him bully you!!!

BUT BUT BUT what happens if they both try to submit a FAFSA??? My parents tried to both submit for me when they were fighting about it and it caused a HUGE problem with my financial aid getting delayed for months!!! Make sure you guys don't both submit!!!

Just to add one more thing - the student could actually fill out the FAFSA themselves and just enter YOUR information as the parent they lived with the most. That way your ex can't interfere. My daughter did this and just had me sitting with her to provide my information. Worked perfectly.

One more important point: For the 2025-2026 FAFSA, the rules are the same regarding divorced parents, but the terminology and some processes have changed. The parent who the student lived with more in the past 12 months is now called the "contributor" instead of "custodial parent." Also, be aware that with the simplified FAFSA, your financial information will be directly imported from the IRS. This means it's even more important to be clear about which parent should be completing the form. The Student Aid Index (SAI) calculation (which replaced EFC) will still be based on your income and assets if you're the parent the student lived with more.

I went through this exact same situation two years ago! The key thing to remember is that tax dependency and FAFSA responsibility are completely separate. Even if your ex claims your son on taxes, YOU are still the parent who completes the FAFSA because your son lived with you the majority of the time. I'd recommend getting this clarified in writing from your son's college financial aid office or Federal Student Aid directly, so you have documentation if your ex tries to argue about it later. Also, make sure you and your ex are on the same page about who's filling out the FAFSA - you definitely don't want both of you submitting forms as that will cause major delays. The good news is that since your income is lower, having you complete the FAFSA will likely result in better financial aid for your son than if your ex's higher income was used. Don't panic - you've got this handled!

I'm going through something very similar right now! My ex also wants to claim our daughter for taxes this year even though she's lived with me 85% of the time. What I learned from talking to my daughter's college financial aid office is that you need to keep good records showing your son lived with you most of the time - things like school enrollment records, medical appointments, etc. The financial aid counselor told me that sometimes schools will ask for documentation if there's any question about which parent should complete the FAFSA, especially if the parents have different income levels. Since your income is lower, it's definitely in your son's best interest for you to be the one completing the FAFSA rather than your ex. I'd suggest reaching out to your son's college financial aid office proactively to let them know about the situation. They can put a note in his file and give you official guidance you can share with your ex if needed.