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!