FAFSA dependency status for single mother receiving child support - can I file without the father?
I'm trying to help my cousin with her FAFSA application for her son starting college next fall. She's a single mom who's never been married but does receive court-ordered child support through the state system. Her ex sees their son every other weekend, but they have zero communication otherwise. She claims her son on taxes every year. The FAFSA asks about both parents, but she's wondering if she can complete it with just her information since she has full custody and handles all financial responsibilities. Does anyone know if receiving child support means the father HAS to be included on the FAFSA? The dependency worksheet wasn't clear about this situation. Would hate for her to submit incorrect info and delay her son's financial aid package.
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Lydia Santiago
You're in luck! For FAFSA purposes, your cousin only needs to include her own information - not the father's. Since she's unmarried and has primary physical custody (even with visitation rights for the father), she's considered the custodial parent for financial aid purposes. The 2025-26 FAFSA has actually simplified this process compared to previous years. Child support received is reported as untaxed income, but this doesn't mean the non-custodial parent needs to provide their information. Just make sure she answers the questions about her household correctly - she should include herself and her son (and anyone else she financially supports more than 50% who lives with her).
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Melissa Lin
•Thank you so much! That's exactly what we were hoping to hear. One follow-up question - when reporting the child support income, does she need to provide any documentation about the arrangement, or just the total amount received in 2023?
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Romeo Quest
ya i went thru this exact thing last yr with my daughter. dad sees her sometimes but doesnt have actual custody. i just put my info and the child support i get. they never asked for anything about her dad at all
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Melissa Lin
•That's really reassuring to hear from someone who's been through it. Did they ask for any verification of the custody arrangement or child support amount?
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Romeo Quest
•nope they didnt ask me for nothing about that. just make sure she can prove her income if they ask for verification later. they asked me for my tax transcript but nothing about custody stuff
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Val Rossi
Actually this isn't completely accurate. The FAFSA looks at WHO THE STUDENT LIVED WITH FOR THE MAJORITY OF THE 12 MONTHS PRECEDING THE APPLICATION. If the son lived with mom more than dad during that time, then ONLY mom's info is needed. But the child support definitely needs to be reported as untaxed income. I would still recommend your cousin gather documentation of the custody arrangement just in case - the financial aid office might request it during verification.
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Eve Freeman
•You're both partly right. For the 2025-26 FAFSA, the new SAI formula focuses on the custodial parent, which is determined by both legal custody and physical residence. Since OP mentioned the mother has full custody and the son only visits the father every other weekend, the mother is clearly the custodial parent. What's important is correctly reporting the child support as untaxed income in the appropriate section. The FSA defines this specifically as support received for children in your household. This doesn't make the father a contributor for FAFSA purposes.
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Clarissa Flair
lol everyone's giving diff answers...typical FAFSA confusion 🤦♀️ i had almost the EXACT situation and had to call FSA three times before getting a straight answer. Each time I got a different person telling me something different!
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Caden Turner
•This is exactly why I ended up using Claimyr to reach a live FSA agent (claimyr.com). I was having so much trouble with the custodial parent questions and kept getting disconnected when calling directly. The service got me through to an actual human at FSA in about 20 mins who confirmed I only needed my info as the custodial parent. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ - totally worth it when you need definitive answers about something this important.
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Melissa Lin
•Thank you for the recommendation! After all these different perspectives, I think my cousin should definitely speak with an actual FSA agent to confirm what applies in her specific situation.
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McKenzie Shade
I'm going through this with my son too!! His father has NEVER been in the picture (his choice) but I do get child support garnished from his wages. I asked my son's financial aid counselor at his high school and she said since I have 100% physical custody and claim him on my taxes, I'm the only parent who needs to provide info. She said the new FAFSA is actually easier for situations like ours.
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Melissa Lin
•That's good to hear! My cousin was worried because on some of the older FAFSA forums people were talking about needing special waivers or having to provide documentation about the absent parent. Sounds like things are more straightforward now.
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Eve Freeman
For the official answer: According to FSA guidelines for the 2025-26 FAFSA, when parents are separated/divorced and never married, the custodial parent is defined as the parent with whom the student lived more during the past 12 months. Since your cousin's son only sees his father every other weekend, she is clearly the custodial parent. The child support must be reported as untaxed income, but this does NOT make the father a contributor who needs to complete the FAFSA. One important note: If your cousin has remarried, her current spouse's information would need to be included, even if the stepparent has no legal obligation to support the student.
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Melissa Lin
•Thank you for the detailed explanation. She's not remarried, so that simplifies things. She'll report the child support income but won't need to include any information from the father. This has been super helpful!
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Harmony Love
jus wanted 2 say i feel for ur cousin, i been there done that. its so hard tryin to figure all this out as a single parent! ur a good person for helping her out
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Melissa Lin
•Thanks for saying that! It can definitely be overwhelming, especially since this is her first child going to college. I'm glad I asked here because everyone's responses have been so helpful.
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Romeo Quest
one more thing - tell her to make sure her son has his OWN FSA ID not using hers!! my daughter got all messed up cuz we didnt know this and tried to use my email for everything
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Melissa Lin
•Oh that's a great tip! I'll definitely make sure they set up separate FSA IDs with different email addresses. These are the kinds of details we wouldn't have thought about until it became a problem.
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