Which parent should complete FAFSA when we alternate claiming child on taxes?

For the 2025-2026 FAFSA, the parent who provides more financial support should complete the application. The FAFSA now uses the 'contributor' approach rather than the old system. If your daughter lives with you more than 50% of the time, you should be the contributor regardless of who claimed her on taxes. If it's equal time, then the parent who provided more financial support should file. Tax dependency doesn't determine FAFSA filing anymore under the new FAFSA Simplification Act.

im in the same boat with my ex!! we also do the every-other-year tax thing. our daughter is a junior now and we just did fafsa last month. the college financial aid office told us to have the parent with LOWER income do the fafsa bc it would give her more aid. worked for us!

According to the official FSA guidelines, for dependent students with divorced/separated parents, the FAFSA should be completed by the parent who provides more than 50% of the student's financial support. Tax claiming status is not the determining factor for FAFSA filing. For the 2025-2026 FAFSA, you'll need to determine which parent provides more financial support. This includes: - Housing costs - Food - Medical expenses - Clothing - Education costs - Other essential expenses Documentation of these expenses might be requested during verification, so keep records. If support is truly equal (rare), the parent with higher income would complete the FAFSA.

When me and my ex did the FAFSA last year, we just picked whoever made less money that year to fill it out. No one ever questioned it and my kid got way more aid. I think everyone overthinks this stuff.

Dealing with the FAFSA as divorced parents is incredibly frustrating! My son's financial aid got delayed for THREE MONTHS last year because we got flagged for verification specifically on this issue. The financial aid office demanded proof of who provided more support. We had to submit bank statements, receipts, and a signed statement from both parents. My advice: do it correctly the first time. Don't try to game the system by picking the lower-income parent if they don't truly provide more support. It's not worth the headache and potential loss of aid if you get caught.

I was struggling with this exact situation trying to figure out who should file the FAFSA. After waiting on hold with Federal Student Aid for HOURS and getting disconnected multiple times, I finally found this service called Claimyr that got me through to an actual FSA agent in like 15 minutes. The agent explained exactly how to determine the contributing parent in our situation. Saved me so much frustration! Check out their demo video if you're having trouble getting through to FSA: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ or their website claimyr.com

UGH the new FAFSA is such a NIGHTMARE for divorced parents!!! This stupid "contributor" system is WAY more complicated than the old way. I swear they make this confusing ON PURPOSE so fewer people get financial aid!!! My daughter lost $5,000 in aid because we filled it out wrong the first time. The colleges don't even understand their own rules half the time!!

One important point for 2025-2026 FAFSA that no one has mentioned: If you have a legal custody agreement that specifies which parent is responsible for college expenses, that parent should be the contributor on the FAFSA. This would override the financial support calculation. Do you have anything specified in your custody agreement about college costs?

Based on your situation, here's what I recommend: 1. Track expenses for your daughter for the past 12 months 2. Calculate the total financial support from each parent 3. The parent providing more support should complete the FAFSA 4. Keep documentation of these calculations in case of verification 5. Be consistent - once you determine the contributor parent, that same parent should complete the FAFSA each year unless your support situation significantly changes Changing contributors between years without a change in circumstances can trigger verification flags. Also, make sure both parents are communicating throughout this process to avoid misunderstandings.

As someone who just went through this exact situation last year, I wanted to share what worked for us. My ex and I also alternate tax years, but we discovered that doesn't matter for FAFSA at all under the new rules. What we did was sit down together (yes, awkward but necessary) and went through our bank statements and receipts for the whole year. We made a simple spreadsheet with categories like housing costs, food, medical expenses, car payments, etc. It turned out I was covering about 60% of her expenses even though we have 50/50 custody, mainly because I pay the mortgage where she has her own room and handle most of her medical costs. The key thing we learned: keep EVERYTHING documented from now on. Take photos of receipts, save bank statements, track who pays for what. The financial aid office can ask for proof at any time, and you don't want to be scrambling to find documents later. Also, once you determine who the contributing parent is, stick with that same parent for all four years unless your financial situation actually changes. Switching back and forth will definitely trigger red flags. Good luck! It's confusing but totally worth getting right for your daughter's financial aid.

I'm in a very similar situation with my ex-husband! We've been alternating tax years for our son for about 6 years now, and I was so confused when I started looking into the FAFSA requirements. After reading all these responses, I'm realizing I need to have that uncomfortable conversation with my ex about who actually provides more financial support. We've never really tracked it since we just naturally fell into handling different expenses - I pay for housing costs since our son lives in my house half the time, plus I handle all his medical and dental expenses. My ex covers car insurance, gas money, and most of his clothing and entertainment expenses. It sounds like I should start documenting everything now before we file the FAFSA. Has anyone found a good app or system for tracking these shared expenses? I feel like trying to recreate a whole year's worth of spending from bank statements is going to be a nightmare, but I want to be prepared if we get selected for verification. Also, for those who went through verification - how long did that process typically take? My son is hoping to get his financial aid package early so he can make his college decision.

I'm dealing with this exact same situation right now! My ex and I have been doing the alternating tax claim thing for years, and I had no idea it didn't matter for FAFSA until I started researching this week. What's really stressing me out is that we never kept track of who pays what - we just naturally divided expenses without thinking about percentages. I handle her school fees, extracurriculars, and most medical stuff, while he covers car expenses and takes her shopping for clothes and things. Now I'm trying to figure out if that adds up to me providing "more than 50%" of support. Reading everyone's experiences here is both helpful and terrifying! The verification process sounds like a nightmare if you're not prepared. I think I'm going to follow the advice about sitting down with my ex to create that spreadsheet, even though it'll be awkward. Better to have an uncomfortable conversation now than deal with delayed financial aid later. Thanks to everyone who shared their real experiences - it's so much more helpful than the confusing official guidance!

I just wanted to add one more perspective as someone who works in financial aid at a community college. I see this confusion with divorced parents ALL the time, and honestly, the new FAFSA rules have made it more complicated for families like yours. Here's what I always tell parents in your situation: Start with where your daughter physically spends most of her time. Even with 50/50 custody agreements, students often end up spending slightly more time at one parent's house due to work schedules, school location, etc. The parent where she spends more nights should generally be the contributor. If it's truly equal time, then yes, you'll need to calculate financial support. But don't stress too much about getting it down to the exact dollar - the Department of Education understands that divorced families don't always track every expense perfectly. They're looking for clear evidence that you made a good faith effort to determine who provides more support, not a perfect accounting. One tip: If you end up being very close (like 52% vs 48%), consider who has better financial aid eligibility (lower income, assets, etc.) as a tiebreaker. The rules allow some discretion when support is nearly equal. Most importantly - whatever you decide, be prepared to explain your reasoning if asked. Keep it simple and honest!

As a newcomer to this community, I'm finding this discussion incredibly valuable! I'm actually in a very similar situation with my ex-wife and our twin daughters who will be starting college in the fall. We've also been alternating tax years, and I had no idea that wouldn't matter for FAFSA purposes. What I'm finding most helpful from everyone's experiences is the emphasis on documentation and having that awkward but necessary conversation with the ex about who actually provides more support. It sounds like many of us divorced parents have been operating on informal arrangements without really tracking the percentages. One question I have after reading all these responses: If we determine that I should be the contributing parent this year, but next year our financial situations change significantly (like if one of us loses a job or gets remarried), are we allowed to switch who files the FAFSA? Or once we establish the pattern, do we need to stick with the same parent for all four years regardless of changing circumstances? Thanks to everyone for sharing their real experiences - this is so much more helpful than trying to decipher the official FSA guidelines alone!

As someone new to this community but dealing with the exact same situation, I can't thank everyone enough for sharing their experiences! My ex and I have been alternating tax years for our daughter for the past 8 years, and I was completely lost trying to figure out the FAFSA rules. Reading through all these responses, a few key things are really clear: 1. Tax dependency has NOTHING to do with who files FAFSA anymore 2. It's all about who provides more than 50% financial support 3. Documentation is absolutely critical in case of verification 4. Don't try to game the system by just picking the lower-income parent What's been most eye-opening is hearing about people who got flagged for verification and had to provide months of bank statements and receipts. That sounds like a nightmare I definitely want to avoid! I think my next step is going to be that awkward conversation with my ex to go through our expenses and figure out who actually provides more support. We've been pretty informal about splitting costs, but it sounds like I need to get serious about tracking everything going forward. One quick question for those who've been through this: when you calculated "financial support," did you include things like the value of providing housing (like if your daughter has her own room at your house)? Or was it more about direct expenses like medical bills, school costs, etc.? Thanks again to everyone for making this so much clearer than the official FSA guidance!

Welcome to the community! I'm also new here and dealing with a very similar situation with my ex-husband. We've been alternating tax years for our son, and I had no idea until recently that this doesn't matter at all for FAFSA purposes under the new rules. After reading through everyone's incredibly helpful responses, I'm realizing I need to have that uncomfortable conversation with my ex about calculating who actually provides more financial support. Like many of you, we've been operating on an informal system where we just naturally cover different categories of expenses without tracking percentages. One thing that's really stood out from all your experiences is how important documentation is going to be, especially if we get selected for verification. I'm definitely going to start keeping detailed records from now on so we don't end up scrambling later. For those who mentioned creating spreadsheets to track expenses - did you find it helpful to categorize things like housing costs, medical expenses, education costs, etc.? I'm trying to figure out the best way to organize this information when I sit down with my ex to go through everything. Thanks so much to everyone who shared their real experiences - this has been incredibly more helpful than trying to navigate the official FSA guidance alone!