WARWICK, RI, July 22, 2010
/24-7PressRelease/ -- College funding and divorce planning can be difficult issues by themselves, but mix them together and the potential for confusion and financial mistakes for families can increase dramatically.
On July 28th, Rhode Island-based Certified Divorce Financial Analyst and CFP practitioner, Kevin Worthley will be a guest presenter on Divorce Speak, a nationally-broadcast monthly tele-seminar series hosted by Lisa C. Decker, CDFA, a well-known divorce expert at Divorce Money Matters in Georgia.
In the presentation, Worthley will explain the intricacies of the college funding and financial aid calculation process and how divorce can dramatically affect a student's and family's finances when paying for college. "In my decade of experience, college financing and financial aid can be extremely confusing to parents. Add the extra complexity of a divorce situation, and two separate households, and the implications are even more bewildering to families," he says.
According to Worthley, just as there are misconceptions about the financial aid process, there are also myths about how divorce affects college funding. "As an example," he says, "both custodial and non-custodial parents believe that 1) the college will require financial information from both parents and, 2) if one parent (the non-custodial parent) refuses to give their information or help with funding, it will jeopardize the student's aid eligibility. In reality, neither is the case."
Significant financial mistakes can still be made, however. The key to navigating the problem of divorced (or divorcing/separated) parents is to understand how the colleges treat income and assets of each household for financial aid purposes and then implement techniques and strategies for the student's benefit. This is the purpose and objective of the workshop.
Worthley says there are a number of ways to make divorce work for a student. "If the parents are able to construct the divorce settlement amicably, it may be better for college purposes to have the custodial parent be the one with the lower income. This way, especially if the student may apply to public colleges, the parental income assessment may be much lower for the aid calculations since a non-custodial parent's income and assets aren't normally listed on the financial aid (FAFSA) application." In addition, Worthley says that even if a non-custodial parent's financial information is requested by a particular school, this doesn't mean that parent will need to make substantial contributions to college costs.
This teleseminar, "College Financing 101: Strategies and Pitfalls Every Divorcing Parent Needs to Know" will be held on Wednesday, June 28th at 7 pm EDT. The presentation is free to all, but attendees must register at http://www.divorcemoneymatters.com. Once registered, attendees will be provided with call-in instructions to access the discussion. The presentation lasts about 60 minutes and a question/answer period may be available at the end of the workshop, time permitting.
About Kevin Worthley: Kevin Worthley is a Certified Financial Planner practitioner and Certified Divorce Financial Analyst at the Retirement Planning Company of New England in Warwick, RI. His independent, fee-based service assists clients in many aspects of personal finance, including comprehensive financial planning, investment management, college planning and divorce finance. He is a Board member of the Financial Planning Association and a member of the Rhode Island Mediators Association. He is also a Board member of the Association of Divorce Financial Planners.
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