I thought I was clear on who gets to file FAFSA, but after reading someone’s thread who is sort of in a similar situation, only younger, now I’m confused.
So recently remarried (last year), wife has a D (over 21) that we didn’t claim on our tax returns. Does the D need to include my income on her FAFSA filing? She still has a custodial father (not quite sure the definition, but we are in California and she only lives with us for about 2-3 weeks out of the year). It’s sort of a moot point since she’ll be a senior in college this year, but might come into play if she’s going to graduate law school. For that matter, do I need to include my wife’s income for my S (I assumed yes since we did claim my kid on the tax return)?
Who is claimed on the tax return is irrelevant. It’s which parent the kid lived with the most.
Custodial parent’s income on FAFSA which is determined by where they live the most nights of the year. Claiming on taxes is separate. (My ex and I swap back and forth every year on that). Custodial parent income also includes the spouse of the custodial parent.
interesting. She spends a couple of weeks in the summer in Asia at her dad’s house and 2-3 weeks with us, the rest of the year at school or co-op work.
It is still based on the amount of time she spends with the parent. Most nights = custodial parent for FAFSA purposes. If the number of nights is exactly the same, the parent who provides the most support is used.
After you determine who the custodial parent is, then you use that parent’s household and report income and assets for the household. For you and wife, that is both of you for her daughter or your son - once you are determined to be the ‘FAFSA parent.’
Ok this is getting interesting. The D’s dad paid for the remaining room and board (her scholarships and aid covered about 80% of things) the first 2 years but I don’t believe paid out anything this past year, but not sure. I doubt if my wife has paid anything with regards to her schooling at all (if she has, it would be from an unknown account) and I myself really don’t delve much into the D’s finances.
You better hope that the daughter is not attending a school that uses the CSS Noncustodial Profile to add even more complications involving you to her financial aid.
Is she going to attend college in Asia or US?
I assume since she is filing FAFSA, that means she intends to attend college in the US.
If she lives with her mother and you only a few weeks a year, would she be considered OOS student for CA universities?
CA publics are very expensive for OOS students and there is no aid.
If your family income would qualify for Calgrant, it might be worth it to see if she could take a gap year and live with your wife and you in California, if that would enable her to be considered as an instate student.
@mommdc D is a senior at Northeastern, so OOS for tuition purposes is not a consideration.
Oh sorry, I missed that she was a senior in college.
She probably paid for some of her expenses with her coop income.