<p>I recently remarried and am concerned about the effect of my new wife’s assets on my daughter’s financial aid potential. My two sons are just about to compete college and both got significant aid from good colleges because of my limited income and insignificant assets. My daughter is looking at the same colleges, but if her new stepmother’s assets are included, she is unlikely to qualify for any aid. </p>
<p>I don’t mind paying my share, but it doesn’t seem like my new wife should have to pay for my daughter’s education, especially since she only came into the family recently.</p>
<p>Because the Profile and most other college financial aid forms (except FAFSA) require the stepparent to include their income and assets we have talked about getting divorced in order to avoid this problem. (We probably should have waited to get married, but that is water under the dam).</p>
<p>it seems like we could continue to live together as if we were married, but as long as we are legally divorced, she would not be required to submit her information.</p>
<p>Aside from the foggy ethical issues here (does my wife really have an obligation to pay?), are there other issues we should consider or other ideas that might help?</p>
<p>Note: my wife’s assets are rental properties which are also her primary source of income. What little I have is in retirement accounts. I have primary custody and provide most of the support for my daughter.</p>
<p>Sadly, your new wife’s income/assets will get considered because the belief is that her financial situation eases yours (meaning that you’re not paying for all of your household’s expenses, therefore you can afford more for college costs). </p>
<p>If you want to get a divorce so that her income won’t count, then that’s your call.</p>
<p>*I have primary custody and provide most of the support for my daughter. *</p>
<p>Collegebound41:
For FAFSA, non-custodial income/assets are not reported.</p>
<p>For Profile about a third of the Profile schools request non-custodial information along with many of the Ivys and some schools that have their own institutional forms. In those cases both the non-custodial parent and the non-custodial parent’s spouse’s income/assets are reported.</p>
<p>Yes…for CSS Profile that require the NCP (and spouse’s) financial data. Note that some schools don’t use the CSS Profile NCP form, but they use their own forms that ask for NCP info.</p>
<p>however, for FAFSA, the NCP info isn’t used…so neither would any NCP spouse.</p>
<p>Edit…cross-posted with above post.</p>
<p>Vballmom…that link really mostly deals with bio parents considering divorce for FA purposes. The situation is quite different when dealing with a CP and step-parent. The step-parent can divorce, live in the same household, and have no obligation at all towards the child. FA offices don’t expect any money to come from “ex-step parents”.</p>
<p>What I would do is figure out how it changes other finances if you divorce (tax deductions, health ins eligibility and premiums, to name a few, tax liability), and see if it would make a true difference. If it, for example, increases your health ins premiums by 6000K a year to acquire coverage separately, well, that is a consideration.</p>
<p>If you divorced in 2011, you also need to figure out if your 2012 financial aid application would be based on your married 2011 status. The benefit for financial aid might not kick in until 2013 when you file as head of household in 2012, after filing married jointly (likely) in 2011.</p>
<p>If you divorced in 2011, you also need to figure out if your 2012 financial aid application would be based on your married 2011 status.</p>
<p>I don’t think this is true. If they were to “separate” now and divorce soon, he would not be considered “married” at all when he does the 2012 FA app.</p>
<p>However, I do agree that you’ll have to look at the big picture. Do you provide health insurance for your spouse since it sounds like she doesn’t have a job. Do you own a home together? share any assets?</p>
<p>Mystic…</p>
<p>Also, what kind of EFC or “family contribution” do you think you’d have with just your income/assets? Is it possible that with just your income/assets your D still won’t qualify for aid? If she will be the only child counted in the household, then a “one parent/one child” household can easily have a higher EFC.</p>
<p>What kind of schools will your child likely get accepted to? If they are schools that don’t meet need anyway, then all of this financial gymnastics may be for naught.</p>
<p>*My two sons are just about to compete college and both got significant aid from good colleges because of my limited income *</p>
<p>It sounds like you get to count 3 kids in the household with 2 in college right now. However, when the boys leave college, all of the sudden you’ll have only one child to count in college/household. You may find that your EFC will rise significantly - even with only your income.</p>
<p>BTW…do you have an ex-wife whose income will count? Some schools want NCP info as well.</p>
<p>I’m sorry but I don’t see how this is “sad”. The reality is that the OP IS benefiting financially from being in this marriage. There are now TWO folks contributing to the household income instead of just one. It’s a FAMILY contribution.</p>
<p>To the OP…as noted, your former wife (and a spouse if she has remarried) are ALSO required on the CSS Profile form. </p>
<p>I agree with the poster above…check into what it will cost you to get a divorce.</p>
<p>I dont think a divorce would be that expensive for people recently married, no kids, if they do not combine assets. Basically agreement says whatever you brought in you get to keep. </p>
<p>If new SM is helping support dad (which may be the case), it would free up some income of his, but to me it is not the same as if SM were mom and would be contributing to kids education.</p>
<p>Yes, as others have said, if you are married, your wife’s financials will be taken into consideration in defining need for your kids. If you are the custodial parent, FAFSA will calculate the EFC based on your financials and your wife’s. Whether you are the custodial parent or not, most PROFILE colleges will use both parent’s and both step parents financials. The schools that tend to be the most generous in aid, do tend to use all of the parents’ and steps’ financials. So, yes, a separations could make a difference in what you get.</p>
<p>However, what kind of aid are you hoping to get? Are your son’s going to schools that use PROFILE? What kind of aid are they getting? Sometimes , it makes little difference. When my friend remarried, the only effect it had on her children’s financial aid was the loss of subsidy on the Stafford loans and one $2500 fin aid grant that her older daughter had received. Hardly worth a divorce. If your daughter is looking at expensive schools that tend to meet close to full need via grants, it can make a big difference or if your kids are PELL eligible on your income but not with your wife, it can have an effect, but many times, it wouldn’t make much difference at all. If the aid packages are loan heavy, you are still eligible for PLUS whether or not you have need. In my situation, getting a divorce would be unlikely to mean substantial grant money, for instance. So look at the specific situation before going through all of that trouble.</p>
<p>Also, I am not sure of the legality of getting a divorce in order to get federal funds or financial aid, so that is not something I would be bandying about. Intent can play a big role in tax evasion tactics, I have seen.</p>
<p>I was thinking of how that conversation would go over in my house.</p>
<p>Me: Honey, how about we get divorced to save money on college costs. You keep the kids since you have less income and they can qualify for some financial aid.</p>
<p>Her: How about you walk into this frying pan I’m holding… :D</p>
<p>Heck, she may also say…ok…but YOU"RE going to have custody because there’s a lot more work involved! You’re going to get the kids up in the morning, feed them, make their lunches, make sure they have everything for school, take them to school, and then after work, check their homework, settle sibling fights, feed them again, clean up after dinner, make sure they bathe/brush teeth, get them to bed on time…and then do the laundry and other household chores so that you can collapse into bed at 11pm to start the whole thing again in the morning. (Frankly, I think if more H’s were told that they were going to have full custody of the kids, they’d stick around. LOL)</p>
<p>*Sadly, your new wife’s income/assets will get considered because the belief is that her financial situation eases yours </p>
<p>I’m sorry but I don’t see how this is “sad”. The reality is that the OP IS benefiting financially from being in this marriage. There are now TWO folks contributing to the household income instead of just one. It’s a FAMILY contribution.
*</p>
<p>Oh I agree. The OP was obviously hoping for some happy news that a recently acquired wife would somehow be exempt from the calculations. I did point out to him that by having such a spouse, his income was not solely supporting the household anymore, therefore more of his income could go towards education. </p>
<p>I think the OP would find a substantial increase in EFC anyway (even without new wife) because he’s losing 2 dependents to claim and he’ll only have 1 in college. If he were just claiming a household of 2 (1 adult/1 child), EFC would probably rise by 50% or more.</p>
<p>Also getting a divorce and then living together? Sounds like fraud. </p>
<p>A supplemental question on the CSS PROFILE is asked by some schools about living in sin, if someone lives with you, without benefit of marriage, then how much money does that person contribute to your household?</p>
<p>*Also getting a divorce and then living together? Sounds like fraud. </p>
<p>A supplemental question on the CSS PROFILE is asked by some schools about living in sin, if someone lives with you, without benefit of marriage, then how much money does that person contribute to your household? *</p>
<p>I don’t think it’s fraud. People have the right to marry, divorce, and/or live together. It might be different if they were claiming to be separated, but weren’t really separated (some do try this). This isn’t much different than when an engaged couple in a similar situation chooses to delay marriage and live together so the Step’s finances don’t count.</p>
<p>As for the possibility of CSS questions…even if the new wife contributes some money towards rent/food/utilities, that’s still going to have a far less impact than her rental properties and income will.</p>
<p>I’m not in favor of any of these kinds of financial gymnastics…but I do understand why it would be difficult to expect a new step parent to contribute a large amount towards college costs. It’s not like her finances are just adding a couple of thousand to the EFC…it sounds like her assets will eliminate any chances for aid. It’s just not realistic to expect that she’s going to pay “full freight” for a new step-child. That’s why some delay getting married until after all of these FA issues are past.</p>
<p>A bit more info as requested. My daughter will likely go to a very competitive college, one which does meet 100% of need, does use the CSS profile, and would consider my spouse’s income and assets.</p>
<p>My income and assets are such that my two sons both went to very competitive colleges essentially for free. They have some loans, but nothing too onerous. With only one in college, the EFC will be different, but I would still anticipate substantial aid.</p>
<p>My new wife paid full tuition for her two sons to go to college. No chance of aid. She really does not want to have to pay for a third full tuition simply because we got married.</p>
<p>We are actually still maintaining tow households 100 miles apart in different states and are together on weekends. We don’t expect to actually live together for several years because of her business and family obligations. We will likely file separate tax returns and have not combined health insurance as doing so would only save us a few hundred dollars a month and would be very complicated because we live in different states.</p>
<p>My ex wife just got laid off her teaching job and is getting by on three part time jobs. Not much EFC there either.</p>
<p>It is a unique situation, and explaining it to the head of financial aid at one college only caused him to shake his head sadly…</p>