<p>Heya guys..</p>
<p>My dad's claimed me as a dependent, and he's also raising me as a single parent. He makes a total ~$54,500 as income earned from work, but he went into a new house venture in 2013, where he took out money from his 401k to pay for the home. Unbeknownst to me, this raised his adjusted gross income to $110,000, and that alone disqualified me from ALL government grants. </p>
<p>I called the main fafsa office, and the representative told me that the information provided by the IRS is accurate, and that the only thing I can do is to contact the university that I'm transferring to, in order to explain specifics of the situation. I'm currently SIR'd to UC Davis, but I'm waiting on an appeal decision from UC Berkeley as well.</p>
<p>Does anyone have any advice on this situation? The money my dad pulled out is not actual yearly income he makes, and because of it, I may potentially be in some big debt from student loans. </p>
<p>See <a href=“http://www.finaid.org/educators/pj/earlydistribution.phtml”>http://www.finaid.org/educators/pj/earlydistribution.phtml</a>. Financial aid administrators may use professional judgment to exclude any early distribution from income
</p>
<p>Schools will handle this differently. Have you run the NPC’s? You might not get a grant even with the $54,400 income. Also are you instate or out of state? </p>
<p>It sounds like this student is instate for California. He would qualify for a Calgrant, I believe, if his AGI is below $80,000. But this year, because of the withdrawal from the retirement, it is well over that amount. I’m guessing the cal grant is the grant this student is referring to.</p>
<p>If I’m understanding this correctly, this was a one-time thing, so your cost would be increased for your freshman year only. Apply again next spring, and you should be eligible for Cal Grants for the subsequent years.</p>
<p>The alternative is to delay your enrollment for a year, and then your dad’s 2013 income wouldn’t be taken into account at all.</p>
<p>@thumper1 @brendank21
I am an in-state student, and the Cal grant is what I was referring to, yes :). I’ll edit that into the original post.</p>
<p>@dodgersmom
I’ll be transferring in as a junior level student, so it’ll only be 2 years at a university for me. My parents are divorced, and my mom actually makes a lower income than my dad… Do you happen to know if she can claim me as a dependent for next year, or this coming Spring? This is all new information to me, but if I’m unable to receive the Cal Grant after talking to an advisor, I’ll be paying all of my college debts without any assistance; I was really expecting the cal grant to pull through, but my dad just did a really risky stunt that obviously forfeited my rewards.</p>
<p>awards, not rewards</p>
<p>I believe the parent for FAFSA is the one you live with the majority of the year, regardless of who claims you</p>
<p>Who do you live with? that is the parent who should be used on fafsa…not necessarily the person who claims you.</p>
<p>Anxiety, do you LIVE with your mother, or father? The parent you reside with more than. 50% of the time is the one who you put on the FAFSA. So…if you lived with your dad, his info ONLY would be on the FAFSA. If you lived with your mom, her info ONLY would be on the FAFSA.</p>
<p>Tax filing status has NOTHING to do with this.</p>
<p>@brownparent
Thank you.</p>
<p>@thumper1 @mom2collegekids
Since they divorced, I’ve been moving between two equally (one week with my mom, one week with my dad). I’m moving across the state for college though, so I’ll be living with neither of them come Fall. Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t the amount of financial award I receive based on the parent’s income who claims me as a dependent? They both equally pay for my living at their homes, but I pay for my own gas, groceries and necessities; so there is no parent that does more than the other. It’s just a confusing situation for me, and I’m trying to figure out the most beneficial way to approach this situation; chances are that I will be paying back all of my student debt without the help of either parent.</p>
<p><<<
Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t the amount of financial award I receive based on the parent’s income who claims me as a dependent?
<<<</p>
<p>no, we already told you that.</p>
<p>if you live with each parent equally, then the next criteria is which parent pays for more stuff for you…food, insurance, etc, if that is equal, then it is which parent earns the most. </p>
<p>does one parent provide your health insurance? car insurance? cell phone?</p>
<p>No, FAFSA considers the custodial parent, the one you live with the most.</p>
<p>Also, if your mom is remarried and she is your custodial parent, her husband’s income also counts.,</p>
<p>@mom2collegekids
I see. Then it’s probably correct that I belong as a dependent to my father; I’m on his car insurance and health insurance from work. Hmm. So the next thing I need to figure out, is whether or not the Cal grant is out of the question for me, because of his high AGI from pulling from his 401k; all of that money went into his house venture. I may have to end up pulling out student loans for all of my tuition and living on the university–I’ll call on Tuesday and check with my campus financial aid adviser. Perhaps I’ll be eligible if I explain the situation.</p>
<p>@oldmom4896
My mom is remarried, and her combined income with my stepdad is still lower than my father’s. What might you suggest in my situation, if I live between them equally?</p>
<p>Your FAFSA is completed with the parent with whom you reside the most in the year prior to the date you filed the form. It has NOTHING to do with tax dependency at all. Nothing.</p>
<p>If you lived with your parents an equal number of time, then the parent who provides most of your support is listed as the custodial parent on the FAFSA. Usually, this is the parent with the higher income.</p>
<p>If you really want to use your mom on the FAFSA in subsequent years, then make her residence your permanent residence ( that is where you live when you are not in college), and just spend occasional nights here and there with your dad. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Even IF the dad is paying these things…If the student is living with the mom most of the time, SHE would be the custodial parent for FAFSA purposes.</p>
<p>@thumper1
Okay, that makes sense. Thank you for clarifying that :)</p>
<p>You may need to ask the school if you can delay college for a year to avoid that efc hit.</p>
<p>YOU cant borrow much. do you already have loans in your fa pkg? how much?</p>
<p>as a junior, you can only borrow 7500…including what is already in your fa pkg.</p>
<p>Meanwhile for this year, it seems unlikely that you spent the exact same amount of time with each parent.</p>
<p>Old mom…26 weeks per parent…that’s equal.</p>
<p>@mom2collegekids
I see. Well I signed into the UC Davis website, and they offered a myriad of different student loans to cover my entire tuition/living. Here is my exact breakdown from the school site:</p>
<p>Fed Direct Parent Plus Loan: Total for Fall/Winter/Spring = $19,593
Fed Direct Subsidized Loan: Total for Fall/Winter/Spring = $5,003
Fed Direct Unsub Loan: Total for Fall/Winter/Spring = $2,494
Total with all 3 loans for Fall/Winter/Spring = $27,093
Those are all of my awards for the 2014-2015 academic year according to the university’s website, which covers the tuition/living expenses 100% if I use the bulk of that money. I’ll also be finding a job during school to pay for common living expenses like food and miscellaneous goods.</p>
<p>@oldmom4896
In terms of insurance and utility bills, my dad has spent more money.</p>