FAFSA confusion with 50/50 custody divorce - which parent reports? And what is CSS?

For FAFSA the parent who provided the most financial support in the last 12 months is supposed to fill it out. But with 50/50 split its the parent the student lived with the most. If thats also 50/50 then whoever has the lower income should do it for more aid. Thats what we did last yr.

The FAFSA rules for divorced parents changed with the 2024-2025 FAFSA Simplification Act. Now FAFSA only considers the parent who provided the MOST financial support during the last 12 months, regardless of custody arrangements. If support is truly equal at 50/50, then it defaults to whichever parent the student lived with the most. If that's also equal, then YOU get to choose which parent completes the FAFSA (and yes, typically the one with lower income/assets would be advantageous). Regarding CSS Profile: This is the College Scholarship Service Profile, a separate financial aid application required by about 200 mostly private colleges and universities. Unlike FAFSA, CSS often requires BOTH divorced parents' financial information, so your ex might need to complete a portion even if you're the FAFSA parent. Check each school's financial aid website to see if they require CSS, as not all schools do.

make sure u keep proof of the 50/50 split if they ask for verification!! my sister got audited on her fafsa and they wanted bank statements and everything

I went through this EXACT situation last year with my daughter!!! The whole divorced parent thing with FAFSA is a NIGHTMARE and no one at her school could give me a straight answer. We ended up calling FSA directly and waiting FOREVER on hold just to be told something different than what their website said. After 3 HOURS I finally got someone helpful who explained it all. My ex has way more money than me too but we do 50/50 custody. If you're doing true 50/50 financial support and 50/50 custody, then YOU GET TO PICK WHICH PARENT! Pick the parent with lower income/assets (you) to maximize aid. But CSS Profile is a WHOLE OTHER BEAST and will probably want both parents' info anyway. Each school has different CSS requirements!! Some wanted both parents to fill out separate CSS forms, others only wanted the FAFSA parent to do CSS. It was confusing as hell.

If you're struggling to get through to someone at Federal Student Aid about your specific divorce situation, try using Claimyr.com - it helped me skip the hours-long wait times when I had a similar complicated FAFSA question. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ showing how it works. Got me through to a live agent in about 10 minutes instead of being on hold for hours. The agent I spoke with was able to confirm exactly how to handle our divorced parent situation with my stepdaughter's FAFSA.

I recommend you file as the contributing parent since your household income is lower. That will likely result in a better SAI (Student Aid Index) for your son. However, be aware that for the CSS Profile schools, they'll likely want BOTH parents' financial information regardless of your custody arrangement. Each school sets their own policies for the CSS Profile, and most private schools that use it want to see the complete financial picture. The CSS Profile is much more detailed than FAFSA and considers things FAFSA doesn't (like home equity, retirement accounts, etc.). It's primarily used by private schools and some selective public universities to distribute their institutional aid (not federal aid). There's also a fee to submit the CSS Profile, unlike FAFSA which is free. Check each school's financial aid website to see which forms they require. Some only need FAFSA, others need both FAFSA and CSS Profile.

my brothers college made both parents fill out the css thing even tho they been divorced for like 10 years and his dad had to pay part of the tuition even tho they had a divorce agreement saying he wouldnt! so watch out for that

One more important detail: Both FAFSA and CSS Profile will count your current spouse's (your son's stepfather) income and assets as part of your household financial picture, even though he's not biologically related to your son. The 2024-2025 FAFSA will use 2023 tax information, so his period of unemployment will actually be reflected in your application, which may help your son qualify for more aid. For the CSS Profile schools, they will want to see information from: 1. You and your current husband (as one household) 2. Your ex-husband (as the other biological parent) Each school will then use their own formula to determine how much each household might be expected to contribute. This is why some students receive very different financial aid packages from different schools, even with the same FAFSA SAI score.

Ugh I feel your pain! Went thru this last year and its so complicated when parents are divorced. Just pick whoever has lower income for FAFSA but be prepared for lots of paperwork for those fancy private schools!!

Watch out for the priority deadlines too! Some schools have really early CSS deadlines for the best aid packages, like in November or December! Don't wait till last minute like we did lol

Just want to add that you should also check if any of your son's schools have their own institutional financial aid forms beyond FAFSA and CSS! Some schools (especially state schools) have their own supplemental forms that ask different questions. Also, make sure to submit everything well before the deadlines - financial aid offices get swamped and sometimes there are technical issues with the websites. We learned this the hard way when the CSS Profile site crashed the night before one of our deadlines! Good luck with everything, the divorce situation definitely makes it more complicated but you've got this!

As someone who just went through this exact situation last year, I can tell you that you're asking all the right questions! The divorced parent FAFSA rules are definitely confusing. Since you have true 50/50 custody and financial support, you absolutely should be the one filing as the contributing parent given your lower household income - that's completely legitimate and not "gaming the system" at all. One thing I wish someone had told me earlier: start gathering all your financial documents NOW, especially for the CSS Profile schools. They ask for way more detail than FAFSA (bank statements, investment accounts, business info if applicable, etc.). Also, give your ex a heads up about the CSS Profile requirements sooner rather than later - some divorced parents get defensive about having to provide their financial info, but it's just how these private schools operate. The earlier you can have that conversation, the smoother the process will be. You've got this!

One more tip from someone who's been through this process - create a shared spreadsheet or document with all the important deadlines for each school (FAFSA, CSS Profile, any institutional forms) and their specific requirements. Having everything in one place really helped us stay organized, especially when dealing with 6 different schools like you are. Also, if your ex pushes back on providing his CSS Profile info, you can let him know that most schools will consider the application incomplete without it, which could mean your son gets NO institutional aid from those schools. That usually motivates cooperation! The whole process is stressful but you're asking the right questions and getting good advice here.

I'm going through something similar right now with my daughter's FAFSA! We also have 50/50 custody but my ex makes significantly more than me. One thing that really helped was calling the financial aid offices directly at her top choice schools to ask about their specific policies for divorced parents. Some were more flexible than others in how they interpreted the "most support" rule when it's truly equal. Also, I'd suggest starting the CSS Profile process early - it took me way longer than expected to gather all the required documents, especially since some schools wanted tax returns going back multiple years. The whole process is overwhelming but this forum has been a lifesaver for getting real advice from parents who've actually been through it!

This thread has been SO helpful! I'm in a very similar boat with my daughter - divorced parents, shared custody, and trying to figure out who should file the FAFSA. One thing I learned from our experience is to make sure you understand how "financial support" is defined by the Department of Education. It's not just about who pays what percentage - it includes things like health insurance premiums, extracurricular activities, school supplies, etc. We kept detailed records through our co-parenting app, but when we tallied everything up (including my ex covering her car insurance and my household covering health insurance), it wasn't as perfectly 50/50 as we initially thought. Might be worth doing that calculation before deciding who files, just to make sure you're following the rules correctly. Also echoing what others said about CSS Profile - start early and be prepared for your ex to need to participate even if he's not the FAFSA parent!

Welcome to the community! I'm new here but going through something very similar with my twins who are juniors this year. Reading through all these responses has been incredibly eye-opening - I had no idea about the CSS Profile or how complex the divorced parent situation could be with financial aid. One thing I wanted to add that I learned from our initial college planning meeting: make sure to also look into whether any of your son's schools participate in the "Profile with Institutional Methodology" vs "Federal Methodology" for aid calculations. Some schools use different formulas even within the CSS Profile system, which can affect how they view divorced parent contributions. Our counselor mentioned that understanding this ahead of time can help you better predict which schools might offer better aid packages. Also, since you mentioned your husband was unemployed in 2023, you might want to look into whether any schools have "professional judgment" policies that allow financial aid officers to make adjustments for unusual circumstances like job loss. Some schools are more flexible than others about considering current financial situations vs. just the prior year tax info. This forum seems like such a great resource - I'll definitely be back with more questions as we get deeper into this process!

This is such a comprehensive discussion! As someone new to this community, I'm learning so much from everyone's experiences. I'm in a similar situation with divorced parents and shared custody for my daughter who's a junior this year. One thing I wanted to add that our financial planner mentioned: if you do end up being the FAFSA parent due to lower household income, make sure to understand how your remarriage affects things beyond just including your current husband's 2023 income. The FAFSA also looks at combined household assets, so even though your husband was unemployed in 2023, any savings, checking accounts, or investments he has will still count toward your household's asset total. Also, I've been researching the CSS Profile schools on my daughter's list, and I discovered that some have a "CSS Profile Waiver" program for families with financial hardship - might be worth checking if any of your son's schools offer this, especially given your husband's unemployment situation. The application fees can add up quickly when you're applying to multiple CSS schools. Thanks for starting this thread - it's been incredibly helpful for those of us just beginning to navigate this maze!

As someone new to this community and about to start this process with my own child, I wanted to say thank you to everyone who has shared their experiences here! This thread has been incredibly educational. I had no idea how complex the divorced parent situation could be with financial aid, or that there were so many different requirements between FAFSA and CSS Profile. One question I have after reading through all of this - for those of you who went through the CSS Profile process with divorced parents, how did you handle the conversation with your ex about needing their financial information? I can imagine some divorced parents might be resistant to sharing detailed financial data, especially if they think it might increase their expected contribution. Did any of you encounter pushback, and if so, how did you work through it? Also, I'm curious about the timing - it sounds like CSS Profile deadlines can be much earlier than FAFSA. For those managing multiple schools with different deadlines and requirements, did you create some kind of master timeline to keep everything straight? This process seems overwhelming but all of your shared experiences are making it feel much more manageable!

Welcome to the community! I'm also new here and going through this exact same situation with my daughter who's a senior. Reading through this entire thread has been incredibly helpful - I had no idea about the complexity of the divorced parent rules or the differences between FAFSA and CSS Profile. One thing that really stood out to me from everyone's experiences is how important it is to document everything thoroughly. Like others mentioned, keeping detailed records through co-parenting apps seems crucial in case you get selected for verification. I'm also realizing I need to start having the CSS Profile conversation with my ex much sooner than I originally planned. For those who mentioned calling schools directly about their specific policies - did you find that financial aid offices were generally helpful and willing to explain their divorced parent policies over the phone? I'm wondering if it's better to call now during the less busy season or wait until closer to application time. Thanks to everyone who has shared their experiences here. This thread should honestly be pinned as a resource for other parents dealing with divorced parent financial aid situations!

Welcome to this amazing community! As someone who's been lurking here for a while but just joined, I have to say this thread has been absolutely incredible for understanding divorced parent financial aid situations. I'm facing a very similar scenario with my son who's a junior - divorced parents with shared custody, and I had no idea about the complexity of CSS Profile vs FAFSA requirements until reading all of your experiences here. One thing I wanted to add that our college counselor mentioned recently: make sure to also check if any schools on your list have "early decision" or "early action" financial aid deadlines that are even earlier than their regular CSS Profile deadlines. Some schools want financial aid applications submitted with the early admissions applications, which could be as early as November 1st for some schools. Also, regarding the conversation with your ex about CSS Profile - I'm dreading this too! But reading through everyone's advice about framing it as "required for our child's best aid opportunities" rather than optional has given me a much better approach. I think I'm going to compile a list of each school's specific CSS requirements from their websites to show him it's not negotiable if we want our son to be considered for institutional aid. Thank you to everyone who has shared their real-world experiences here - this has been more helpful than any official guidance I've found elsewhere!