<p>Hello,</p>
<p>It's that time of the year for the FAFSA/CSS struggle we all have to face at one point or another. My mother is divorced from my biological father, who lives in my home country (I have no contact with him). My mother has been single, marital-status wise, since. For the FAFSA, I know that I only have to put down her information. For the CSS, the situation is murkier, and I have to deal with stuff like NCP and such.
Now, the thing is that my mother plans to get married to her boyfriend this year, likely before the school year ends. Since they were to get married in 2013, would that affect my FAFSA/CSS this year? Or would their revised financial info affect those fin aid forms for 2014-15? Since schools have different aid deadlines, what would happen if I submit my CSS to one school, then my mother gets married, and then I have to submit the CSS to another school? Would I have to completely revise financial info?</p>
<p>Marital status, like all other information reported on FAFSA and Profile, is for the base year. If your mother is married on Dec 31, 2012, then she would be listed as married on your FAFSA that you file in January 2013 and your new stepfather’s income/assets would be included. Since your mother wasn’t married last year, you don’t need to change anything on this year’s forms. You won’t need to worry about this until next year.</p>
<p>^^I thought marital status for FAFSA was based on the marital status on the date of filing FAFSA, not on the base year. No idea for CSS, but pretty sure that is the case for FAFSA.</p>
<p>edited to add: went to double check, and it is marital status on the date of filing FAFSA
question 58
<a href=“http://studentaid.ed.gov/sites/default/files/2012-13-completing-the-fafsa.pdf[/url]”>http://studentaid.ed.gov/sites/default/files/2012-13-completing-the-fafsa.pdf</a></p>
<p>OP - does your Mom realize that once she remarries you will have to report your stepdad’s financial information on future FAFSAs?</p>
<p>swimcatsmom is correct. I’m not sure it was always this way - it seems like a couple years ago it was the status as of Dec 31 that mattered. But for now the effective date is the date FAFSA is filed.</p>
<p>vballmom - it has been the same since I started doing FAFSA (6 years ago). Now for tax returns, it is the marital status at December 31st that matters. I bet that is where your brain is getting it from!</p>
<p>OP - does it really matter? You will complete the CSS profile for your first school on a particular date. Why not just submit it then, before your mother gets married. It’s the date the CSS Profile is submitted, not the date it it due. As long as we file before it’s due, we can choose the date we want to minimize bank account balances (the day after the mortgage is paid, not the day before). You can choose your date to ensure your mother is not married when you submit.</p>
<p>You will need to include your new stepfather’s information next year, but you’re fine for this year.</p>