How to fill out the FAFSA® if you have separated or divorced parents
Senior Associate, JPMorgan Chase
If you’re a dependent student, you’ll have to include information about one or both of your parents’ income when filing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) so that your Student Aid Index (SAI) — a measure of how much financial support you may need — can be calculated.
Filing the FAFSA® isn’t always easy, and one issue students can run into is figuring out what financial information to include on the form if their parents are separated or divorced.
Keep reading as we explain how to handle this situation when filing the FAFSA®.
If your parents are divorced or separated, whose information do you use on the FAFSA®?
One of the first steps when figuring out what to do on the FAFSA® if your parents are separated or divorced is to figure out which parent’s information to include on the FAFSA®. That’s because if you’re a dependent student whose parents are separated or divorced and not remarried, you only need to include information on the FAFSA® about one parent.
Suppose your parents are divorced or separated and don’t live together. In that case, the parent’s information to include on the FAFSA® would be the one who provided more financial support over the previous 12 months. If that parent is married or has remarried, you would also include their spouse’s information on your FAFSA®.
If your parents split the financial support equally, the U.S. Department of Education advises including the parent’s information with the greater income when completing the FAFSA®.
This is a change from previous versions of the FAFSA®, when, if you were a dependent and your parents were either divorced or separated, you would have used the financial information of the parent you lived with the most.
Does the FAFSA® ever require both parents’ income if they’re divorced?
As stated above, if your parents are divorced, you’re required to provide the income of the parent provides more financial support. If this parent is remarried, you’ll also include that stepparent's information on the FAFSA®.
So, if you lived with your dad five days out of every week and spent two days at your mom’s house, but your mom is providing more substantial financial support, you would use your mom’s information and include your stepparent’s information if your mom remarried.
There is an instance when the FAFSA® does require both parents’ income if they’re divorced, though. If your divorced parents live together, you’ll indicate their marital status as “Unmarried and both legal parents living together," and you’ll answer questions about both parents on the FAFSA®.
Are there any differences for the purposes of FAFSA® if your parents are separated but not divorced?
For FAFSA® purposes, your married parents are separated if they’re considered legally separated by the state or if they’re legally married but have chosen to live separate lives, including living in separate households.
In this case, as stated above, you’ll include the information of the parent who provides more financial support on your FAFSA®.
If your legally separated parents live together, and the state they live in permits them to be legally separated, then you’ll indicate their marital status as “Unmarried and both legal parents living together,” and you’ll answer questions about both of them on the FAFSA®.
Final thoughts
Completing your FAFSA® if your parents are divorced or separated can be an easy task; the big key is determining which parent’s financial information to include. If you feel like there’s a grey area for whatever reason, reach out to your school’s college guidance counselor or advisor, who might have expertise when it comes to filling out the FAFSA®.
