<p>So I guess this is a really personal question. I have yet to file for FAFSA this year due to some problems at home. My parents have separated (not divorced) and my mom is currently the one paying for my education. She has recently been laid off and my dad has also recently retired. I'm not sure how to go about filling out my FAFSA since my parents are not legally divorced and will probably not do so for other reasons. Is it to late to file my FAFSA? I filed it last year and received no financial aid, just loans since my parents together made enough money so that I didn't qualify. But due to these circumstances (1.they are separated 2. my mom was recently laid off and 3. my dad recently retired) how would i go about filling out the FAFSA especially since all of this has happened within the last 3 months and is it too late? Thanks for the advice guys, I really appreciate it.</p>
<p>You would fill it out using the financial information of the parent with whom you live. Since it will be based on last year’s income, your custodial parent has to figure out how much of that combined income was earned by him/her, what is his/her share of taxes paid, etc. Usually the easiest way to do this is to apply a percentage. For example, the custodial parent’s percentage of the income was 40%, than apply that 40% to the taxes paid, etc.</p>
<p>This does not address the recent lay-off/retirement, because FAFSA is based on the previous year’s financial information. That’s what you have to use for the FAFSA. After submitting the FAFSA, you can then write a letter to the college’s financial aid office and explain the lay-off/retirement and ask for an adjustment. Whether or not you get it is up to the college.</p>
<p>Use only your custodial parent’s information. For example, if you live with your mother, then your FAFSA will be filled out using her financial information, and your letter asking for an adjustment would be based on her job loss. Your father’s retirement will be irrelevant.</p>
<p>Hmm…just wondering out loud. If this family income is below a certain amount and the custodial parent was laid off…might they qualify for dislocated worker status? This is done ONE the FAFSA, not afterward. I don’t know the answer…but someone here will.</p>
<p>First question is, do your parents live together? If not, you can file using the parent you live with. If asked for verification documents, you will need to prove that your parents do not live together, which typically involves providing proof of separate addresses.</p>
<p>Assuming you will be using your mother, you will need to use her income information from the 2010 tax return. She can check dislocated worker if she is laid off, but the only thing that does is qualify her for auto 0 EFC if her portion of the AGI is less than $31,000 on the 2010 tax return or ignore her assets if her portion of the AGI is less than $50,000. Otherwise, you may want to file a special circumstances appeal for loss of wages. If your school is like mine, you will not be able to do this until summer.</p>