<p>I am the noncustodial parent of a high school senior and will be completing the CSS Profile application very shortly. A year and a half ago, I remortgaged my house in order to remove my exwife from the existing mortgage. At that time, I witheld 30K in cash from the remortgaged amount in case of emergencies or home repairs etc... The 30K has been sitting in a savings account since then as I have not needed to use it. </p>
<p>The main question that I have is how can I transfer this asset so that it is not counted against me for financial aid purposes. I spoke to accountant who told me that I can gift up to $13,000 per person to anyone that I want and they can gift it back to me at any time (without reporting to the IRS). I had considered gifting 13k to each of my parents to hold until the financial aid process is finished for this year. I also certainly don't want to do anything fraudulent. </p>
<p>Do the CSS Profile or FASFA applications ask about monetary gifts? Are there any other options? I also considered putting the 30K back down on my mortgage since that's where it came from in the first place.</p>
<p>bump</p>
<p>Also interested in the monetary gifts question here.</p>
<p>I also considered putting the 30K back down on my mortgage since that’s where it came from in the first place.</p>
<p>Thats what I would do.
Pay down as much debt as possible, since debt isn’t considered on financial aid, but savings are.</p>
<p>Any idea whether monetary gifts need to be reported on the FA applications?</p>
<p>*I had considered gifting 13k to each of my parents to hold until the financial aid process is finished for this year. I also certainly don’t want to do anything fraudulent. *</p>
<p>Giving something to someone to hold for you , does seem deceitful, because that is not a gift with no strings attached.
But paying down debt wouldn’t have to be a secret.</p>
<p>What FA forms ask is how much money you have in accournts as of that day. So if you gift or spend money before submitting, that’s within the rules.</p>
<p>Note: this is not meant to be a comment on the ethics of gifting.</p>
<p>I agree that the best place would be to pay of debt. I would pay credit card debt, car loans, personal loans and then the mortgage. This is all legal and advisable. The impact of having 30k above your net worth allowance is about $1,500.</p>
<p>Before you do any financial gymnastics you need to find out how much a single parent asset exemption is. None of that money may be considered. and, if a portion is considered, then only about 6% of that portion counts.</p>
<p>Before you do any financial gymnastics you need to find out how much a single parent asset exemption is for FAFSA and CSS Profile. None or little of that money may be considered. </p>
<p>There is an understanding that “some” money needs to be saved for other uses.</p>
<p>Find out what amount is not counted, and then maybe put the rest towards mortgage or a household improvement.</p>