Non-custodial parent with greater income - new FAFSA changes

Paying for College
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I know this will be very new for a lot of people with the 2024-2025 FAFSA just getting released, but I’m hoping to gain some insight on my situation. I have multiple questions on this topic.

  1. Daughter will be attending a school (not sure yet, but all candidates apply) that only uses FAFSA for financial aid determination. Under the old rules, this would be really good since my income as the non-custodial parent is much greater than my custodial ex. Now, it sounds like this may only last for one year as I am the one who will be paying for the college expenses.

2024-2025 using 2023 as the “who contributes more financially” rule still would apply to my ex.

2025-2026 rule… if I am paying for tuition, dorms, etc., am I correct in thinking that I would now be the person to fill out the FAFSA?

  1. Related to question above, if the FAFSA considers finances from ‘prior-prior’ year (i.e., two years ago), would I only become the higher ‘financial contributor’ for year 3 of college? Or by me paying for year 1 make me responsible for year 2’s FAFSA? I’ve read multiple websites on this topic and none are clear about this.

  2. My daughter is not yet 18, so I am still paying child support. According to one website, this is considered a custodial parent asset, rather than income. If we generate an “agreement” to continue these payments through the college years and my ex is the one physically paying for school, might she still be the one to fill out the FASFA, or am I still on the hook?

  3. Part of the money I have currently saved for college costs are in a 529. In the previous rule, payments from this would have negatively impacted grant eligibility by adding to a child’s untaxed income. Now it seems that I really should use this for year 1 so that it reduces my own assets for any subsequent FAFSA application I would have to complete. Does that sound right?

Thanks to anyone who might be able to provide insights to any of these questions and I apologize for such a long post.

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Clarifications and additional thoughts in case my first post wasn’t clear in some spots…

  1. … not sure which school, but all only use FAFSA.

  2. If the 2025-2026 year FAFSA application returns to October of 2024, I think my ex would remain the applicant as my daughter would be living with her until school starts.

  3. My “support” payments would be equal to the money I would be saving for these expenses anyway.

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Here is the full information about parent of record for 2024-25: NASFAA AskRegs: Who Is the Parent Of Record On the FAFSA Starting In 2024-25?.

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