FAFSA for divorved parents

Paying for College
1

<p>I read that:</p>

<p>"If your parents are divorced (or separated - see below for more information), answer the questions about the parent you lived with more during the 12 months preceding the date you complete the FAFSA. If you did not live with one parent more than the other, give answers about the parent who provided more financial support during the 12 months preceding the date you complete the FAFSA or during the most recent year that you actually received support from a parent."</p>

<p>So I am confused because before my parents finalized their divorce, My father was our main financial support, and filed the foreign taxes. (I am a u.s. citizen (by being born in the u.s.) with non u.s. citizen parents living and working abroad for 8 years)</p>

<p>However, my mother is who I have lived with for most of last year while my parents were not yet divorced but "separated". She is also my current custodial parent and is still looking for a job while doing the odd job here and there that was untaxed income and so therefore has never needed to file taxes before....which parent do I use to fill in the FAFSA???</p>

2

<p>It sounds like you’ll have lived with your mom more than your dad, so she is the parent you’ll use. You would only use your dad if you had either lived with them both equally during the preceeding 12 months (and he’d provided more support than your mom), or if he was your custodial parent. Neither of those seem to apply based upon what you’ve described.</p>

<p>Untaxed income is reported on FAFSA. If your mom isn’t required to file tax forms, use the “will not file” status.</p>

3

<p>Thank you for your reply! Everything has been cleared up. I 'll file with my mom’s information.</p>

4

<p>If you’re applying to schools that give the best aid, check to see if they also require CSS Profile and the info from the non-custodial parent.</p>

<p>Which schools are you applying to?</p>

<p>Since most FAFSA only schools do not give a lot of aid, willl either of your parents be paying for any of your education?</p>

<p>Does your mom receive financial support from your dad? if so, I think you have to include that info on FAFSA.</p>

5

<p>Since your mom is not a citizen, for her Social security # you must put in 000-00-0000(without the dashes). She will not be able to sign the form electronically, so you will have to print out the FAFSA signature page, have her sign it and mail it in order for your FAFSA to be processed. This process can take a considerable amount of time, so keep this in mind when it comes to meeting deadlines. </p>

<p>If you make any changes on your FAFSA (add more schools, update the income, etc.), you must do the same thing all over again; have your mom sign the form manually and mail it to FAFSA.</p>

6

<p>Girl…</p>

<p>In another post, you indicate that you graduated from high school a few years ago. Is this your 3rd gap year? Were you working last year?</p>

7

<p>^sybbie719, noncitizens can have SSN also. </p>

<p>Sent from my Ally using CC App</p>

8

<p>Non citiizens, who are not US permanent residents do not have a social secuirty number they have an taxpayer ID number which they can use for work purposes and filing taxes (onthe card it specifically states that this is not a social security number). </p>

<p>They cannot use this number for the FAFSA. On the FAFSA the parent must use 000-00-0000. If you use the taxpayer ID number, your fafsa will bounce back and they will tell you that this number is not listed in the social secuirty administration.</p>

9

<p>Sybbie, can green card holders have SS numbers? They would not yet be citizens…would they use the SS numbers on the FAFSA if they do have them?</p>

10

<p>Green Card holders are US Permanent Residents (the correct terminology). Yes permanent residents/green card holders have a social security card and would be using it on the FAFSA.</p>

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