FAFSA for divorced parents: Who reports college savings accounts my ex controls?

just put it under ur sons name, thats what we did. the 529 is technically his money anyway

For the 2024-2025 FAFSA, only ONE parent needs to complete the form - specifically the parent who provided more financial support during the past year. If that's you, you'd complete it. If that's your ex, he would. As for the 529 account, whoever is listed as the account owner (not the beneficiary) needs to report it as THEIR asset. So if your ex is the account owner, and he's not the parent completing the FAFSA, then you don't need to report it at all. But if you're both listed as owners, you'd need to report your portion. Don't report it as your son's asset unless he's actually the account owner (which is rare for 529 plans).

When me n my ex did FAFsa for our daughter we both had to report everything including the college fund. Got flagged for verification because we reported different amounts, huge headache.

I went through this exact nightmare last year! The new FAFSA rules are much clearer than before - only ONE parent reports (the one providing more financial support). Just make sure to answer the questions about which parent is completing the form accurately. As for the 529 - I spent HOURS on the phone with Federal Student Aid trying to get a straight answer about this. The agent finally confirmed that 529 plans are reported by whoever OWNS the account, not by who the beneficiary is. If your ex owns it and he's not the parent doing the FAFSA, then you don't report it. Period. If you're concerned about getting it right, I highly recommend using Claimyr (claimyr.com) to get through to an actual FSA agent on the phone. They have a service that gets you past the hold times and connects you directly to someone who can answer your specific questions. Saved me so much frustration! They have a video showing how it works here: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ

Actually, the treatment of 529 plans with divorced parents depends on who the CUSTODIAL PARENT is according to FAFSA guidelines. Under the simplified FAFSA process, the custodial parent is the one who provided more financial support in the past 12 months, regardless of the actual custody arrangement. If you're the custodial parent by FAFSA's definition, and the 529 plan is owned by your ex-husband (the non-custodial parent), then: 1. You DO NOT report the 529 plan on your FAFSA 2. Your ex DOES NOT complete a FAFSA at all 3. Your son should be prepared to explain the situation if selected for verification The 529 plan would ONLY be reported if: - You own it (then you report it as your asset) - Your son owns it (then he reports it as his asset) Since the account is owned by the non-custodial parent, it's effectively invisible to the FAFSA calculation, which is actually beneficial for aid eligibility.

Thank you all for the helpful responses! I called FSA using that Claimyr service (got through in less than 10 minutes!) and got confirmation: since I'm the parent who provided more support and will be completing the FAFSA, I do NOT need to report the 529 account that my ex-husband owns. They said if we get selected for verification, we'll just need to explain the ownership situation. I was overthinking this so much! Such a relief to have it sorted out before applications are due.