I have some info I’d like to just get out before I ask for advice:
My parents’ divorce will be finalized before the FAFSA portal opens this year.
I’m living with my mom in an apartment off campus.
I turn 18 before the FAFSA portal opens, so my dad will not be paying child support.
My mom’s only source of income is her monthly alimony.
She has no credit card and doesn’t file taxes because alimony is exempt starting 2019 - so my dad pays our rent through his card and deducts it from her total monthly alimony.
My questions:
Do I only need to send my mothers information to FAFSA because she’s my custodial parent (I lived with her only for the last year+)?
How do I go about explaining her alimony being our only income and not submitting any tax forms?
I don’t believe my dad will claim me as a dependent from now on but does it change anything if he does?
I’m just concerned because her “income” seems close to a low-income situation when in reality my dad makes a considerable salary per year. — However he’s not helping me with my education at all - only with personal expenses (car payments and insurance). I’m concerned they won’t believe the drastic change in my income because last year I filed through my dad and his salary is 4x my mom’s alimony income.
FAFSA uses prior prior year info, so students filing this October for the 2020-2021 school year will be using tax information from 2018 to fill it out which would be their married income. Now, I think you can file something with the school explaining the special circumstances, but I’m not really up on that, so hopefully someone else will weigh in.
You will file using your mother’s info. The problem will be that the tax info will be from 2018, when it is likely your parents filed as married/ filing jointly. If so, she will not be able to use the DRT (and tool to import IRS info onto FAFSA) and will most likely be required to verify information with the schools. You aren’t the first student to have this tax situation and the school will be able to help you with any questions. You can’t make explanations on the FAFSA filing itself and have to answer the questions as asked
It won’t matter if your father claims you as a dependent. For financial aid purposes, your mother is the parent with whom you live most of the time and you use her income and asset information.
If you reside more than 50% of the time with your mom, then she is your custodial parent for FAFSA purposes and you include only her income and assets on the FAFSA.
I don’t believe there is a provision for explaining this on the FAFSA…but if you file and indicate the alimony income but don’t file any tax return, you will likely be selected for verification…and that’s when you will explain, and provide documentation.
For financial aid purposes, it doesn’t matter who declares you as a dependent.
@cshell2 the 2020-2021 FAFSA does use 2018 tax year information. BUT if the parents aren’t married on the day they file FAFSA, they do NOT include all of the income from both parents in 2018. The student would only use her custodial parent income from 2018.
I would suggest that this poster get this all submitted as soon as possible after October 1. They can call the college financial aid office to inquire about what to do since the parents are divorced and the custodial parent has no earned income in 2018. I’m sure the college will be able to provide some guidance.