This is by design. Word assumes that you want the footnote to be all on the
same page (many users complain bitterly about footnotes that are continued
to the next page even when Word has very little choice about this).
--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)

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Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
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> When I place a footnote at the beginning of a document and
> that is the only footnote on the page, the footnote text
> will continue to go up the page until under the footnote
> reference number. Is there a way to set how the footnote
> area so it will note take up the whole page?