I have not seen or heard from my ex in 5+ years.
Theres no way she will provide any financial info to anyone on my request, even if it’s to help out child go tp college.
Will this screw up my FAFSA? I am the custodial parent. We technically have shared legal custody but my ex has been no where to be found for 5 years.
Will I need to take her back to court to subpoena her foreign financial records? She is out of the u.s. jurisdiction AFAIK.
Having legal process served on you ex-wife outside of the U.S. will be problematic.
I guess theres some kind of waiver…
If you are no longer married, and your kiddo lives with you better than 50% of the time as of the date of your FAFSA filing…you are the custodial parent. Your former wife is NOT included onnthe FAFSA at all. The FAFSA does not ask for non-custodial parent income or assets. At all.
You don’t need a non-custodial parent waiver for the FAFSA…because the non-custodial parent doesn’t get reported on the FAFSA.
NOW…if your kiddo applies to schools using the Profile, that is another story.
With me. I have residential custody.
Read my post…I edited it!
What to do if kid needs to fill css profile?
You will fill out the Profile. Then if the schools require the non-custodial parent form, and you really have had no contact and don’t have any way to reach the other parent at all…you can apply for a waiver for the non-custodial parent form. You will need a third party documentation that this other parent is out of the picture…maybe a clergyperson or school counselor (mom would not have been listed on school records as a contact, right).
You will need to apply for a waiver at each school.
Thanks. Yep, mom has not only not been listed as a contact person for anything. She hasn’t even said “happy birthday” to out kid on 5 years, so …that’s another story.
It’s another story, but one you may have to tell to a school that requires the CSS for financial aid if you have to request a NCP waiver. If your daughter is considering any of those schools, you may want to start putting together a list of dates and resources. If your child went to counseling, your might request a letter that confirms she wasn’t in contact. If any of your family members could support the information, get them lined up. Look up dates from your divorce and if there were any other documents that support her leaving, like your sending notices that were returned, or dates bank accounts were closed.
I think you have a good chance of getting the waiver, but you really never know.
Be sure you have schools where you aren’t counting on the waiver on her list.
Colleges that require non-custodial parent information and which are only affordable with financial aid should be considered reaches, because getting a waiver is a subjective decision by the college which outsiders have no way of telling how difficult will be.
More information about the divorced parent situation: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/2083835-faq-divorced-parents-financial-aid-and-net-price-calculators.html
One other thing…for Profile schools…check to see if the non-custodial Profile is required in subsequent years. At some places it is…and at others it isn’t. At places that do require it every year, you will be doing the waiver song and dance every year.