ired from both parents.
If the student’s legal parents (e.g., biological and/or adoptive parents) are not married to each other and live together, select “Unmarried and both parents living together” on the FAFSA and provide information about both of them, regardless of their gender. This includes a student whose parents were never married but live together, as well as a student whose parents are divorced or separated but living together.
Both legal separations and informal separations count as separations on the FAFSA. Parents who have a legal separation agreement can live together. For FAFSA purposes, parents who have an informal separation cannot live together and should maintain separate residences. Different floors of the same house do not count as maintaining separate residences. Living in a hotel room on a temporary basis does not count either. If the student’s parents have an informal separation and are now living together, they are no longer considered as having a separation and should select “Married or Remarried” on the FAFSA instead.
If the student’s legal parents are divorced or separated but not living together, only one parent is responsible for completing the FAFSA, even if the parents file a joint federal income tax return. This parent is often called the custodial parent, but it is not necessarily the parent who has legal custody of the student or who claims the student as a tax exemption.
Do not base the parent’s marital status on any person who is not the student’s legal parent and who is not married to the student’s parent.
The custodial parent is the parent with whom the student lived the most during the 12 months preceding the date the FAFSA is filed. If necessary, count the number of days (nights) the student spent with each parent.
Sometimes, this criterion will not be sufficient to specify which parent must complete the FAFSA. For example, the parents might have joint custody and there might be an even number of days due to a leap year, or the divorce might have occurred less than a year ago. If so, the custodial parent is the parent who provided more support to the student during the 12 months preceding the date the FAFSA is filed.
Cash support includes money and gifts, plus expenses paid by others on the student’s behalf, such as food, clothing, housing, car payments or expenses, medical and dental care and college costs.
If that is not sufficient, the custodial parent is the parent who provided more cash support to the student during the most recent calendar year for which parental support was provided.
If all else fails, the college financial aid administrator will decide which parent is responsible for completing the FAFSA. Usually, the financial aid administrator will choose the parent with the greater or higher income.
If the custodial parent is remarried as of the date the FAFSA is submitted, the student should answer the parental information questions about that parent and the person to whom the parent is married (the student’s stepparent). This can have a big impact on eligibility for need-based student financial aid.
Prenuptial Agreement: A prenuptial agreement is a contract executed by a couple prior to getting married. The prenuptial agreement typically specifies spousal support and the division of property upon divorce. A prenuptial agreement may also be called an ante nuptial agreement or premarital agreement.
A stepparent is treated like a biological or adoptive parent if the stepparent is married, as of the FAFSA submission date, to the custodial parent (the parent’s whose information must be reported on the FAFSA). The stepparent’s financial information must be reported on the FAFSA, without exception. Prenuptial agreements have no impact on this requirement, which is a matter of federal law.
The stepparent’s income in 2014 must be reported even if the stepparent and custodial parent did not get married until 2015 (but prior to the date the FAFSA is submitted).
The stepparent’s income and assets must be reported even if the stepparent refuses to help the student pay for college.