The new 2024-25 rule for FAFSA says if parents are divorced, the parent who provided more financial support to the student in the previous 12 months should be on the form. But how exactly do you determine that?
You could have a millionaire parent who has the student 50% of the time, and the student might enjoy a wealthy lifestyle but get zero cash from that parent, while the other parent, say, might have paid a few thousand for school lunch money and violin lessons.
The rule seems vague.
If one parent is a millionaire and the other parent is not wealthy … and the one that is not wealthy pays for more than 50% of the student’s support (food, housing, clothing, activities, healthcare, cellphone, transportation, etc, etc), the one who is not wealthy is the parent of record (the one who is considered the contributor). And shame on the millionaire parent!
But I’m confused. You said that the student enjoys a wealthy lifestyle. Who is providing that wealthy lifestyle?
It’s not just cash that counts for financial support though, as kelsmom points out. Regardless, there aren’t detailed guidelines, or a handy dandy formula to figure out which parent is the contributor. Other things to consider…Is one of the parents paying alimony/child support? Contributing to 529 plans? Paying for college once kid is in college?
I’m glad you’re confused, because that’s my point!
These days small things you spend cash on is only a small part of a family’s budget. Housing, transportation, and medical bills make up a huge portion. So it’s not as simple as looking at who paid for clothes and sports club fees. One parent might live in a $800k house, drive the family around in a Tesla, and go on vacations while the other parent might live in a $250k house and drive a 20 year old car. Are divorced parents supposed to try to calculate all of these components and decide which one provides more? Just seems like many things are difficult to quantify; and if we go with only those things that are easy to quantify (lunch money, lessons, clothes) then you might really miss the one who is providing a wealthier lifestyle.
I’m confused by your question, not by the rules. Is it really that difficult to figure out who provides more support? Because if it is, the answer is clear … the parent who has a higher income is the FAFSA parent. If that parent doesn’t agree, then I suggest that they do break things down and actually figure out who provides more support.
By the way, it’s never been easy. I used to get complaints from parents who couldn’t figure it out because the rule was to use the parent that they lived with the most in the past twelve months. “Well, we have equal custody.” The year has 365 days, so unless it was a leap year, someone was going to have more days.
Lifestyles cost money- real money- even if no cash changes hands.
It’s not that hard, unless someone (let’s assume for the sake of argument that it’s the wealthier parent) is trying to avoid their responsibility.
Kid is on Parent A (wealthier parent) health insurance. It takes a three minute phone call to HR to find out what the parent is paying for the “family plan” vs. the “single person” plan. Kid is on Parent A’s cellphone plan. Kid’s cellphone, computer, musical instrument all paid for by Parent A and covered by Parent A’s homeowner’s insurance. Kid’s braces paid for by Parent A although Parent B (less wealthy) drives to and from appointments.
Even the most lavish, cash free lifestyle probably takes 10 minutes to calculate. And if the disparity is large, it will only take 5 minutes. (Parent B buys $200 worth of groceries every week and fills up the tank of the kids car with gas a few times a month. Parent A BOUGHT the car and buys no groceries because the kid has an UberEats account when the kid spends the weekend with that parent.)
See? A 6th grader can do the math.
What if one parent works part time because that parent inherited their house and lives partly off a inheritance, and the other parent works full time but has little saved and little equity in anything. The first parent is wealthier but the second parent has higher income.
It doesn’t matter what the backstory is. Just figure it out based on the rules: https://studentaid.gov/sites/default/files/is-my-parent-a-contributor.jpg. Most FAFSA only schools don’t have much in the way of free money to give away. Schools that do will use the Profile or their own form, and they will typically dig deeper into the overall financial situation (including the other parent).
Sure, and Bezos’ first wife is going to end up indigent because she’s given away billions of dollars to charity.
You are making this hard.
Is there some reason why you are asking this question…that you also posed with the former FAFSA rules?
3 posts were split to a new thread: Determining which divorced parent provides more support 2025 edition
