In the fall I’m going to be moving away to attend a college while my husband stays behind. We are remaining married, but we will be separating for the next 2+ years. I’m not sure what is going on with our relationship as things have been tense between us, but that’s a whole thing that i’m not going to go into. Come January, we plan on filing our taxes separately. When I fill out my FAFSA would I indicate that we are separated? I won’t be sharing any finances with him or really being in much contact with him and we have always kept our property and bank accounts separated, never shared money with each other besides paying rent and some bills, etc. I’m not sure what our future is going to be like, marriage-wise, but all I know is that i’m proceeding by myself as a separate individual and would rather not include him in my taxes and FAFSA if I can help it, since we’ll be separating but not in a legal separation or a divorce (for now).
If you aren’t legally separated you count as are married. I believe there is a space on FAFSA for noting how you pay taxes (married filing jointly/separately), but I haven’t paid that much attention to that part so I could be mistaken.
If you look at if from the other side, there is no reasonable way for outsiders to parse what ‘separated’ means in any individual case. Moving away to finish school doesn’t count- lots of people have that kind of separation (and many others- I know a married couple who live in different countries, and plenty of military families where there is huge separation). FAFSA looks at the economic resources available to the student, not at how everybody is feeling towards each other. It’s the same with step-parents: it doesn’t matter whether the stepparent wants it to count or not, the legal relationship says that it does.
Hum, not so sure about that, as it doesn’t work that way for separated parents. OP are you going to be a grad student? If so then it doesn’t matter. But for undergrad you want to be correct and not receive grants you aren’t entitled to. I can look it up for you later.
It likely won’t matter either way since this is grad school. There rarely is need-based aid for grad school.
Edit…so it looks like you’re transferring for undergrad??
How old are you?
i’m an undergrad. My situation is so stupid and complicated. Thanks everyone.
@mom2collegekids i’m 30, why?
Your age is relevant. For marrieds who are under age 24, often their parents’ info is needed if they separate. That won’t be an issue for you.
Sounds like you’re too old for Cal Grants.
Keep in mind that taxpayers with the status of married filing separately cannot claim the American Opportunity Tax Credit of up to $2500.
There may be other tax issues/lost credits for married filing separately. It’s not just ‘you file yours and pay your taxes, I’ll file mine.’ If you otherwise are amicable, check to make sure that is the best tax credit for you.
For FAFSA, I don’t think your status changes (you’re married) but household size might.
I think it would be better to file taxes as ‘married jointly’ because then he would probably cooperate with giving his information so the return can be filed (and any refund can be split) and then you can link your FAFSA to that joint tax return. But if you file taxes as ‘married separately’ and you need to give his income info on your FAFSA since you are still married, then that could cause problems for you if he will not give you that information.
Also like @Madison85 said, no AOTC if you would otherwise qualify.