<p>I'm filling out a UC application (and FAFSA later). </p>
<p>When the application asks for "Family Data" it tips to </p>
<p>"Include income earned by all parents and step parents who contribute to the support of you and/or your household, including stepparents and parents you don't live with." and to</p>
<p>"Count your parents, yourself and other dependents in your family size"</p>
<p>So my question is as follows: What should I include in the income summation?</p>
<p>-My parents are divorced.
-My dad has legal custody.
-I live with my mom.
-My mom is not remarried.
-My mom has a daughter with another guy (therefore my half-sister)
-My mom, sister, half-sister, father of my half-sister, and his son live with in one household.
-My dad is remarried and they have a newborn daughter (also my half-sister)
-I have a stepmother with a daughter (my step-sister)
-My mom is supposed to pay my dad child support but they reached an outside-court agreement.
-I have a total of 4 sisters: 1 full, 2 half-sisters, 1 stepsister
-My dad's income is around 50k
-My mom's income is around 15k
-My mom's partner's income is really high but he wont contribute to my tuition.
-I just got a job.</p>
<p>Please help. I don't want to lie. What is the ethical thing to report in the FAFSA that will help me get the financial aid I need?</p>
<p>I'm not sure, but it sounds like you wouldn't need to report your mother's partner, unless he claims you as a tax deduction. Even then, it's hard to see how he'd come into the picture on a FAFSA form. The part you quoted says "parents and step parents", it doesn't say unrelated adults in the home. Besides, he has no legal or emotional obligation to you, so it wouldn't make sense to me that he would factor into your financial aid picture for purposes of a federal financial aid formula. It seems like you have to report your mother, father, and step-mother though. I think if your mom's partner is paying for some of you college you should list that amount wherever it makes the most sense (as a student resource?), but you should just report the amount he's giving you, not his income, I'd think. I'm just going by what you posted though, so don't take my opinion on the matter as truth. You could call the financial aid office at the college and ask them.</p>
<p>you can always call the FA office to get clarification -- but this is how I read it:</p>
<p>"Include income earned by all parents and step parents who contribute to the support of you and/or your household, including stepparents and parents you don't live with."</p>
<p>unless your dad/stepmom contributes to the support of you or your household (which it sounds like he doesn't since he doesn't pay child support) then they only income you include is your mom's. </p>
<p>"Count your parents, yourself and other dependents in your family size"</p>
<p>I would count you, your mom and your siblings that live with you for this question.</p>
<p>FAFSA questions will be worded slightly differently and might be a little clearer.</p>