I was married for 5 months (feb 2017-july 2017) but I am set to get divorced soon, does it matter if I put single on my fafsa instead of divorced? will it affect how much aid I receive?
You use your status as of the day you file. If you want to file as single, you need to wait file until after you are granted the divorce.
Wait…are you legally separated? If so, you can use separated as your filing status.
But what FAFSA are you completing? The one for 2018-2019 isn’t available for filing until OCTOBER.
You don’t have to wait until divorce is final if you’re already living apart. You don’t even have to be legally separated.
Are you 24 years old
Other than marriage, do you meet the criteria to be an independent student?
If you are independent only because you are married, once you divorce you are a dependent student again.
If there is filing for divorced, that’s what you would check off, not single. If you are separated, you are still married.
Actually…for FAFSA puropses, if the parents are separated, and living in separate residences…and are just waiting for the divorce to be final…they can indicated “separated” on the FAFSA form. They would not select “married” on the fafsa.
In this situation…the student should be very oreoared to be selected for verification…because those prior prior year tax returns will not have the same marital status as the FAFSA form if parents more recently divorced. Make sure you have all copies of W-2 forms…so that you can document what the non-custodial income was…as well as the custodial parent income. Only the custodial parent is on the FAFSA in separated or divorced situations…and with the use of prior prior tax year…both parents could easily be on the taxes.
If the parents are still living in the same home…regardless of marital status…both incomes are still included on the FAFSA form.
This was posted by Kelsmom in 2014 to clarify the question of separated vs not on the fafsa.
OP said they were only married for a few months in 2017, so presumably the 2015 tax return and 2016 tax return would have been filed as single.
How old is this poster? As @sybbie719 noted, if the student is not independent because of age, the student will revert to being DEPENDENT for financial aid purposes and will need to include all parent information from the appropriate tax year.
As @mommdc notes…the 2015 and 2016 taxes are likely filed as single. And most likely…so will the 2017 taxes.
ETA…the info I posted was for parents of students who are divorced or separated. There are a few threads about separated folks right now.
Nevertheless…if the student and spouse are currently separated, they do not have to indicate married on their FAFSA.
@kelsmom??
If you are independent by some reason other than being married (age, dependents other than a spouse, etc), it would be best to wait until you are considered separated (see the definition in post #7) - if you already fit the definition, you can indicate separated now. If you are not independent for any reason other than marriage, and if you are selected for verification, the aid office will probably make the determination that you are dependent if you are separated/divorced (that is allowed by the federal regs) and request parent info.
I have never looked at FAFSA, but wouldn’t you just check off what applies to your current status? If there are boxes for Married, Divorced, Single. In the OP’s case he/she is Married. If there is a box for Separated then check that box. OP is referring to him/herself, not her parents.
Yes…you check off the current status.
BUT if you are already separated and living apart…pending divorce…you would not check “married” on the FAFSA.
Why? What would you check off if “Separated” is not an option? When I was separated my ex was still able to stay on my health insurance plan because my employer still regarded us as being married, but as soon as we were divorced, he could no longer stay on my plan.
It’s just how FAFSA defines it. Your health care insurer defined it a different way. The IRS defines it yet another way. I wasn’t thinking in my response #1 that they were actually not living together (don’t know why I got it in my mind they weren’t living separately yet; my bad).
The OP hasn’t been back to answer if she’s 24 years old yet or where anyone lives or even why she’s filling out a FAFSA now.