My granddaughter is getting ready to graduate high school and is in need of financial aid. Her mother is deceased and her father is unemployed for several years. They live with me. She receives Social Security Death Benefits from her mom, but they will stop when she is 18. How do we complete her FASFA?
She will use her father as her parent on the FAFSA form. If his income is really $0, she will put that down.
If he hasn’t filed a 2018 tax return, then he will need to complete a non-filers statement for each college…which will explain why he wasn’t required to file.
No question, she will be selected for verification. When that happens, she will have to likely answer how day to day living expenses have been paid. You (grandparent) will probably need to provide a letter or something saying you are paying all of their bills, if that is true.
I am not sure how SS Death Benefits get entered for your granddaughter. @BelknapPoint where des this go on the FAFSA.
If it’s an untaxed SS benefit, my understanding is that it won’t be reported anywhere on FAFSA.
Where I worked early this year, FAFSA was often completed for families as well as Tax returns. There were a number of situations, in fact it was quite common that a child AND parent was dependent on other family members, usually the child’s grandparents for all living expenses.
As @thumper1 stated, these cases often came back for FAFSA verification. The colleges in that area would request information and dollar amounts in what the grandparents or whoever was paying the child’s Expenses, as untaxed income to that child/student. Amounts paid for medical, dental care, clothing , food as well as cash.
Fastweb addresses the situation as follows:
“Cash support that the student receives from anybody other than the student’s parents (as listed on the FAFSA) must be reported on the FAFSA as untaxed income to the student. Cash support includes not just money given to the student and loans, but also money paid to someone else on behalf of the student. Cash support can include food, clothing, housing, car payments, medical and dental care, insurance and college costs. For example, if a student is living with his grandparents, the support they provide to the student must be reported as untaxed income to the student on the student’s FAFSA. “
This is in line with the questionnaire that college financial offices that I have seen would send in such situations.
I thought the payment made for a student not by the parent were only reported if the bill was in the student’s name. Pay a dentist bill in the student’s name? Report. Pay the mortgage on the home where the owner is the grandparent and the student has a room but is not charged by the grandparent? Don’t report.
Be prepared for the student’s FAFSA to be selected for verification since dad’s income is zero.
The verification will ask to provide proof of how the family (Father and daughter) are living if dad has no income. They will provide documentation that they live with you and you support them.
Dad may need to order a copy of mom’s death cert.
That said, which state do you live in? In many states, your granddaughter may not receive much in aid, even with the 0 EFC she’s going to get.
If she’s a strong student with strong test scores, then apply to some schools that promise to “meet need”.
Fastweb isn’t a government site, is it? Information about what’s required for the FAFSA should come from the FAFSA.gov website. @kelsmom would probably be able to answer what’s included on the FAFSA. I think the bills have to be in the student’s name to be reported.
Right…Fastweb would not be your definitive source of information about the FAFSA.
From what I have seen, from several colleges in cases like this, a college will send a schedule to be completed as part of the verification process. The schedules can vary, though they looked consistent to me and included items listed in the Fastweb blurb. What they ultimately used in their EFC determination, I do not know.
It is always preferable to attribute support to the parent funneling down to the student, than to the student directly, when it comes to FAFSA. A gift of money to the parent who uses it to pay for the students dental bill is treated very differently than directly paying the student’s dental bill. Untaxed cash support can take a heavy hit on the student’s EFC.