FAFSA Confusion w/ deceased custodial parent

[bemealle]

Ok. Bear with me. I am a 3rd year college student looking to transfer. I am trying to complete the FAFSA for the 2017-2018 school year and having trouble.

My parents divorced in 2005. I lived with my mom after that. My dad remarried in 2007; my mom never remarried. My mom was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer in the spring of 2016, and had little to no income in 2014 and 2015 due to illness from her cancer symptoms (undiagnosed at the time) and work changes. She continued to support me financially, and I lived at home with her up until her death on March 14, 2017, just about a month ago.

I understand that I am not to use my deceased parent’s financial information, even though she was my custodial parent and provided almost all financial support and housing in the past 12 months (the past thirteen years, really). That means I have to use my dad’s information. Ok, fine, fair enough.

But my dad is remarried and filed a joint tax return with his wife. Am I forced to include my stepmom’s income as well, even though she has had nothing to do with supporting me? Can I select “Married-Joint Tax Return” and then just use income figures from my father’s W-2? Their combined income is well out of range of receiving federal aid.

If I am forced to include my stepmom’s info, I might look into requesting a dependency override. If anyone has answers to the questions above, or experiences with obtaining a dependency override, I’d be appreciative if you shared them here! The deadline is in four days

[twoinanddone]

If you have to use your father’s information, then you also have to include the stepmother’s.

I would see if you can get the dependency override. You have a situation where you have never been dependent on that parent.

[mom2collegekids]

@kelsmom can you weigh in here

So very sorry about your loss.

Since you lived with mom for the previous 12 months, I’m not sure why you can’t use her 2015 info.

If you are required to use your dad’s info, it’s so unfortunate that you didn’t file FAFSA a couple of months ago.

[thumper1]

@mom2collegekids

For the fafsa, the student has to use the parent as of the date of filing the FAFSA. This student cannot use her mom…who unfortunately is no longer alive…not permitted.

I agree with @twoinanddone request a dependency override at your college. Ask what it would take to get this.

Please go,talk to the financial aid department ASAP. Your situation this year has lots of extenuating circumstances. The forms were available for filing in October…but you had other family things on your plate. I think they will understand.

If you are a third year student…this is the last FAFSA, right? Talk to financial aid…and ask about that dependency override.

As an aside…we’re you receiving a lot of need based aid…or was this for the Direct Loan only?

It’s for your senior year of college…I think they will help you!

[sybbie719]

I am sorry for you loss.

In this case, you will have to use your dad’s income and assets on your FAFSA, which includes your stepmom.
Based on what you wrote, you may not be eligible for a dependency override because using your stepmom’s information would make you ineligible for federal aid.

You may be able to ask for the financial aid office to ask for a professional judgement determination.

@dependency Override

A student cannot become independent just because the parents are unwilling to help pay for the student’s college education.

Although these circumstances are not sufficient for a dependency override, they do not preclude it. Sometimes there are additional circumstances that occur in conjunction with these circumstances that do merit a dependency override. These can include the following:

an abusive family environment (e.g., sexual, physical, or mental abuse or other forms of domestic violence)
abandonment by parents

incarceration or institutionalization of both parents

parents lacking the physical or mental capacity to raise the child

parents whereabouts unknown or parents cannot be located

parents hospitalized for an extended period

an unsuitable household (e.g., child removed from the household and placed in foster care)
married student’s spouse dies or student gets divorced

Abandonment is the failure of the parent to provide financial support or to communicate with the child for a long time, generally understood to be a year or more.

In custody cases this is a prerequisite for a court to deem the child abandoned by the parent and to order the parent’s parental rights terminated.

Abandonment can also refer to physical abandonment, where the child is left on a doorstep or delivered to a hospital.

So there are two key elements to the definition of abandonment: (1) no contact for at least a year, and (2) no support for at least a year. (Note that if a parent abandons a child and later reenters the child’s life, the courts would be very slow to restore parental rights, if at all. So if a student has had no contact with a parent for most of the student’s life, recent attempts to reconcile do not prevent a dependency override on the grounds of abandonment.)

http://www.finaid.org/educators/pj/dependencyoverrides.phtml

Have you had an actual conversation with your dad and stepmom about college? You may be pleasantly surprised and they may be willing to help, especially with the recent passing of your mom

[mom2collegekids]

This is a 3rd year student looking to transfer. I suspect that he has 2 more years left. Sounds like he went to a CC first.

Sybbie is right. Talk to your dad. maybe he’ll help you with these last 2 years.

Where are you living now? Is there a local public Univ you can commute to?