Everything You Need to Know About College Planning and Divorce with Vicki Vollweiler

Nobody warns you, when you're in the thick of a divorce, that the financial fallout doesn't end with the settlement. There are tuition bills on the horizon, FAFSA forms with your ex's name on them, and a whole new layer of negotiation you never saw coming. In this episode of Divorce Happens, host Olivia Howell sits down with Vicki Vollweiler — founder of College Financial Prep, divorced mom, and former divorce coach turned college financial strategist — to talk about the conversation no one is having in the mediator's office: how to plan for your child's college education when you're navigating co-parenting, conflict, and completely separate households. Vicki brings a rare combination of personal lived experience and professional expertise to a topic that sits squarely at the intersection of divorce recovery and long-term financial planning for single parents.What makes this episode so essential is the specificity Vicki brings to a subject that most divorcing parents simply don't know to ask about. She explains why including college planning language in your divorce agreement — even when your kids are toddlers — could save you years of legal headaches and thousands of dollars down the road. She walks through the FAFSA process and why the custody arrangement in your divorce decree can significantly impact how much financial aid your child qualifies for. She shares real client stories: a parent escaping a domestic violence situation whose child ended up attending an Ivy League school for free, and co-parents who couldn't stand to be in the same Zoom room but still managed to save tens of thousands on tuition for their twins. Vicki is also refreshingly honest about the emotional labor involved — sometimes her work is less about spreadsheets and more about helping one parent understand why the other is digging their heels in.The takeaway listeners will carry out of this episode is both practical and genuinely hopeful: you don't have to figure this out alone, and you don't have to wait until your kids are in high school to start. Whether you're newly separated, mid-mediation, or years into co-parenting and wondering how you're going to handle the college conversation with your ex, Vicki's framework offers a clear path forward. She works with families across the country — from Medicaid households to high-net-worth clients — and her message is consistent: with the right strategy, college financial planning after divorce doesn't have to be a battleground. It can actually be a rare win-win for both parents. And after everything divorce puts families through, that kind of win is worth paying attention to.🔗 Check out Fresh Starts Registry:The first & only divorce registry + support platform ➡ https://www.freshstartsregistry.com/📱 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/freshstartsregistry/📘 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FreshStartsRegistry🎙 Podcast IG: https://www.instagram.com/divorcehappenspod/📬 Magazine: https://divorceguidemagazine.com/