Are you filling out the FAFSA to get financial aid for college? Are you trying to figure out what income information to provide for your parents where they are divorced and you are living with one of them?
That can get confusing, but fortunately here is the answer. You only include the income of your “custodial parent,” which includes any alimony and/or child support paid by the noncustodial parent.
But who is your “custodial parent”? Well, it is not necessarily the one that has legal custody. It is one of the following:
- the parent with whom you resided for the greater portion of the 12-month period preceding the date of the FAFSA application;
- if you did not live with one parent more than the other, then it is the parent who provided the greater portion of the student’s support for the 12-month period preceding the date of the FAFSA application; or
- if you have not received support from either parent in the past 12 months, then the parent who provided the greater support during the most recent calendar year for which parental support was provided.
Want more information? Check it out here!
