<p>My parents got a divorce and I live 50/50, so do I list the one that has more assets and makes 22,000 a year but the other makes 6 figures and has less assets, which one do I go with?</p>
<p>I see an option under dependency status that says I can not answer questions about my parents, so I don’t get asked all the financial information about them, is this just a way out of it for me?</p>
<p>And lastly, did my family and I wait too long to even be considered for receiving any money?</p>
<p>Do NOT skip the parent portion! The FAFSA instructions are very clear on which parent to use:</p>
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<p>It would be extremely unusual for a child’s time to be split exactly 50/50, especially since there are an odd number of days/nights in a year. If you can’t really determine, use the financial/support test. You need to check your school(s) website for their priority application date for FA (their College Board profile may also have this information). It’s likely no later than March 1st or so, so get going if you need to maximize your FA!</p>
<p>If your time with parents is 50/50 split, then the parent who provides the most support to you is listed and this is almost always the parent with the HIGHER income. Simply put, it would be hard to demonstrate that the parent with the lower income is actually providing less support to you.</p>
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<p>If you don’t see the parent questions, then it is VERY likely that you answered one of the dependency questions incorrectly. You need to go back and look carefully…it is likely that your answer should be NO to all of the questions (are you over 24, a veteran, an orphan, in guardianship, married, supporting a dependent, have a bachelors degree). If you answered YES to any of those questions, the parent questions would not appear on your FAFSA…but it’s very likely that you answered incorrectly unless something in those really applies to you. Check…the one most often answered incorrectly is the one about guardians…your parents are NOT guardians…they are your parents. You answer NO to that question also…unless you have a court appointed guardian other than your parents.</p>
<p>Tydog, I see from other threads that you are likely talking about University of Michigan. This discussion of “which parent” actually is a moot point for UMich. That school also requires the CSS Profile. Your custodial parent will need to complete the Profile and the non-custodial parent will need to complete the non-custodial parent Profile…so both your Mom’s and Dad’s financial information will be used to award the bulk of the aid UMich gives.</p>
<p>The FAFSA is only used to determine eligiblity for federally funded need based aid…this would include the Pell grant. You would also get a Stafford loan, and possibly work study and a Perkins Loan…and maybe SEOG.</p>
<p>Any other aid given would be UMich institutional aid and the info from BOTH parents (per the two Profile forms) would be used for that.</p>
<p>Thumper, FAFSA was changed last year to allow students to complete the FAFSA without parent info. This was in order to allow kids who truly can’t get their parent’s information to file…ie, those that can’t qualify under the standard dependency questions but may, if fact, be eligible for a dependency override. But, the FAFSA won’t return an EFC and it will be flagged so the FA office has to work with the student inidvidually. If they can’t grant a dependency override, the student is not eligible for any aid other than Stafford loans (and only unsubsidized).</p>
<p>Alright, well I know that I have to use someone now, but who do I have a better chance with for getting money, higher salary and less assets, or vice versa?</p>
<p>And what is that priority application that you were talking about sk8rmom? I have never heard of that.</p>
<p>And where can I find the CSS for Umich?</p>
<p>Have you ever looked at their FA pages? It’s front and center under Prospective Students. The deadline is April 30th but I would not delay any longer. The school can’t give you any financial aid awards until they have information to work with! Css Profile can be found through the college board site. Each of your parents will have to submit Profile info as Michigan requires the non-custodial profile as well.</p>
<p>[University</a> of Michigan Office of Financial Aid: Prospective Undergraduates](<a href=“http://www.finaid.umich.edu/Apply_and_Receive_Aid/Applying_for_Aid/prospectiveug.asp]University”>http://www.finaid.umich.edu/Apply_and_Receive_Aid/Applying_for_Aid/prospectiveug.asp)</p>
<p>Alright, well I know that I have to use someone now, but who do I have a better chance with for getting money, higher salary and less assets, or vice versa?</p>
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<p>Sorry, that’s not how it works. You have to follow the regulations. You need to use the parent you lived with most during the last 12 months … even if it’s a day longer. If you really did live with each the same number of days (kind of tough, with 365 days in a year), you have to use the parent who earns the most (that is, provides the most support).</p>
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<p>Kelsmom (and a number of the rest of us) have already told the FAFSA requirements for which parent to list. If your custody is really 50/50, then you have to list the parent who provides the MOST of your support…and that is the parent with the greater salary in most cases. If your custodial parent has remarried, their spouse’s info is also required on the FAFSA.</p>
<p>BUT because UMich uses the Profile, you will need to provide income/asset info about BOTH of your parents (and if any of them have remarried, their spouses as well). So really there isn’t a “better parent” to choose.</p>
<p>Also, does your mom receive child support or alimony in addition to her income? If so…that’s included too.</p>