Stepfather's responsibility

gardenmom14 · 12-31-2007, 05:15 PM

I am remarried and earn about half of what my husband does. His income (and investments) put us in a position where I do not expect to receive an affordable EFC. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate his earnings and savings and the security this gives me, but my husband is not going to be contributing a penny to my daughter's education. This will fall to me and my ex.

So, two questions:
First, does anybody know the FAFSA logic for holding a step-parent responsible in the EFC calculations rather than a biological parent? It seems nuts to me.

Second, has anybody ever been in a situation like this and called colleges to explain that the paper wealth in a marriage is a lot more than what is in the mom's actual pocketbook? If it helps, my husband and I do have a detailed prenuptial agreement specifying that my husband is not responsible for my D's college expenses.

Input welcome!

Chedva · 12-31-2007, 05:19 PM

The logic isn't that the stepparent is responsible for the college tuition. The logic is that the step-parent's funds are used to support the family, so more of the parent's money should then be available to put the student through college. If there is no stepparent, FAFSA has to consider that the single parent's income is necessary for all living expenses (housing, food, utilities, etc.) A remarried person has additional funds available for those expenses.

That's why I don't think that contacting the colleges will do anything, but it doesn't hurt to try.

Muffy333 · 12-31-2007, 05:58 PM

Agree with Chedva. Imagine a situation where mom's second husband (the stepfather) is incredibly wealthy, lovely home and all, but mom doesn't work at all and spends her day redecorating the lovely home...the neighbors would think it was sort of unfair for kid to get free ride because mom has no income.

gardenmom14 · 12-31-2007, 07:39 PM

Here's another situation...divorced mom lives in lovely home with an incredibly wealthy guy to whom she is not married. That would lower the mom's EFC a bunch, right? Yikes! Do I see a marriage penalty here? To me it seems that the contractual obligation to educate the children is between the natural mom and dad, not mom/dad and step. After all, my husband put three of his own through college, and while I can see that I should pay more for college because I don't have head-of-household status, it does seem unreasonable to me to make step-parents responsible for educating kids who aren't theirs while the natural parent is out of the picture FAFSA-wise.

thumper1 · 01-01-2008, 02:32 PM

The FAFSA only considers the income and assets of the family of the custodial parent. This includes any stepparents. The calculation is for an expected FAMILY contribution (EFC), and the assumption is that any income and assets of the step parent are contributing to the custodial family where the student resides.

Muffy333 · 01-01-2008, 02:46 PM

Well, theoretically, the rich boyfriend could kick the mom out of his lovely home tommorow, but it's a bit harder when they're married. Grandparents can also be supporting the mom and her kid but that's also pretty much invisible for financial aid purposes. You can always show the financial aid office evidence that your husband does not, and legally does not have to, pay living expenses for you or your daughter.

sybbie719 · 01-01-2008, 03:05 PM

Quote:

You can always show the financial aid office evidence that your husband does not, and legally does not have to, pay living expenses for you or your daughter.

However, most schools, especially schools that give out large amounts of their own insitutional aid will not take this into consideration. Most colleges will give FA based on income and assets of the parents (and stepparents if one of the natural parents have married). They do not consider pre-nups and court orders stating that ex-spouse only has to pay $"X".

When a person remarries, the college looks at to what extent the natural parent has "benefitted" from the marriage. As others have stated there is an expectation that the new spouse is contributing to the household expenses (putting a roof over one's head, food, utilities and other bills, etc) meaning that a part of the money the parent once paid by themselves is now reduced because there is a shared expense.

sybbie719 · 01-01-2008, 03:38 PM

for example Dartmouth states:

Quote:

Divorced or Separated Parents
Legal agreements notwithstanding, we believe parents remain morally responsible for their children’s education. We consider a student’s application incomplete until we receive all the required forms from both parents.
We realize that there are many complex and sensitive situations involved, and we try to be as helpful as we can in assisting students who are often caught in the middle. For example, if the custodial parent has been remarried for many years and includes the applicant as a dependent on tax returns, we may be able to determine the financial need without expecting a contribution from the non-custodial parent.

http://www.dartmouth.edu/apply/pdfs/...d_Handbook.pdf

ceebrown · 01-01-2008, 07:14 PM

We are in this situation too. Stepparent has voluntarily offered a contribution.