FAFSA contributor confusion with divorced parents - will my ex paying tuition change who completes FAFSA next year?

For FAFSA purposes, the contributor should be the parent with whom the student lived more during the 12 months prior to filing the FAFSA. This is regardless of who pays more for college expenses specifically. If your son continues to live with you more than with his mother when not at school, you would still be the appropriate parent to complete the FAFSA. College expenses are considered separately from the "providing more support" determination for FAFSA. The key factors are: 1. Physical custody (where the student lives most) 2. Regular financial support (day-to-day living expenses) As long as he maintains his primary residence with you during breaks and summers, you should continue being the contributor for future FAFSA applications, which will likely benefit his aid eligibility given your lower income.

my parents r divorced 2 and my dad pays ALL my tuition but my mom does fafsa bc i live w/ her more. finacial aid office told us its about where u live NOT who pays 4 school!!!

I work in financial aid and encounter this situation frequently. The FAFSA is specifically designed to assess the financial situation of the household where the student primarily resides, not who pays educational expenses. The federal formula looks at: - The parent with whom the student lived most during the past 12 months - If equal time with both parents, then the parent who provided more financial support But "financial support" in this context means general living expenses, not specifically college costs. Educational expenses are considered separate transactions and don't factor into determining which parent completes the FAFSA. If your ex-spouse were to take physical custody (meaning your son lives primarily with them), that would change the equation. But simply paying tuition directly does not make them the contributor parent.

Be careful about this! My divorce decree actually specified which parent would complete the FAFSA each year, and my ex tried to argue that it should change based on who paid more that year. We ended up in mediation over it because it made a $10,000 difference in my daughter's financial aid package when we switched. Check your divorce paperwork to see if it specifies anything about who completes financial aid forms.

Does anyone know if this rule is different for the new 2024-2025 FAFSA? I heard they changed a bunch of stuff with the new system and I'm wondering if this might be different too with the new SAI calculation.

I spent HOURS trying to get through to someone at Federal Student Aid to clarify this exact situation with my kids. Kept getting disconnected or waiting forever. Finally found Claimyr (claimyr.com) which got me connected to an actual FSA agent in about 10 minutes instead of the usual frustration. They have a demo video at https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ showing how it works. The agent confirmed exactly what others are saying here - it's about where the student lives most, not who pays for college specifically. She also told me to keep documentation of where my son stayed during breaks and summers (just in case of verification), but said paying tuition doesn't change who should complete the FAFSA.

OMG the FAFSA is SO CONFUSING with divorced parents!!! 😫 My parents fought over this every year and my financial aid was LATE every single semester because they couldn't agree who should fill it out. My dad made way less $ but my mom had physical custody, so she had to do it, but then she wouldn't fill it out on time to "punish" him for not paying enough child support. COLLEGE FINANCIAL AID NIGHTMARE!!!! Just make sure you guys are on the same page or your kid will suffer!!!

Just wondering - does your ex understand that if she became the contributor based on paying tuition, your son would likely lose his Pell Grant eligibility? Sometimes my ex would try to take over the FAFSA not realizing it would actually hurt our son's aid package because he earned so much more than me.

One additional important point: make sure you understand the difference between who completes the FAFSA (based on where student lives most) versus who claims the student as a tax dependent (which can be either parent regardless of custody, based on your divorce agreement and who provides more than 50% of total support). These are separate determinations and often confuse divorced parents. Your ex could claim your son as a tax dependent based on the substantial college expenses she's paying, while you would still be the appropriate FAFSA contributor based on physical custody. Just make sure you're both clear on this distinction to avoid complications.

As someone who just went through this exact situation with my daughter, I can confirm what others are saying - the key is physical custody, not who pays tuition. My ex-husband pays about 75% of her college costs but she lives with me during all breaks and summers, so I continue to complete the FAFSA. One tip that helped us: we documented this arrangement in writing (just an email between us) before her freshman year so there wouldn't be any confusion later. It clearly states that while he's contributing significantly to educational expenses, she maintains primary residence with me for FAFSA purposes. This has prevented any arguments over the years and kept her aid consistent. Your son is lucky to have parents who can work together on this - just make sure you both understand the rules so you don't accidentally jeopardize his grants!