<p>Hey guys, thanks for helping.</p>
<p>So FAFSA asks about household dependents, which they define as persons whose half+ expenses your family provides for (am I right here?) The problem's that my parents send large amounts of money to our foreign relatives (grandparents mainly, but also aunts/uncles, college tuitions of cousins)...but not quite enough to where EACH relative is half+ supported by us.</p>
<p>I'm just worried that if we do estimate, say, all this collective burden (for lack of a better term) as 2 people or something, it looks really fraudulent. But saying that we have no dependents just feels like...we're screwing ourselves out of aid.</p>
<p>What to do, then?</p>
<p>I don’t think you can count these extended relatives AT ALL. They don’t live in your home. You’re sending money away. That is considered a “choice”. </p>
<p>you’re not “screwing yourself out of aid.” It’s not the college’s responsibility to give you money just so that the money can essentially be given to your relatives (including some of their tuitions!!). Yes, that’s what you’re expecting. You’re expecting a college to essentially be supporting your relatives.</p>
<p>HOW DOES A FAMILY DECIDE WHO SHOULD BE COUNTED IN THE HOUSEHOLD SIZE?</p>
<p>Anyone in the immediate family who receives more than 50% support from a dependent student’s parents or an independent student and spouse may be counted in the household size. For example, a sibling who is over 24 but still receives the majority of his/her support from the parents can be included. Siblings who are dependent (as defined by the FAFSA) as of the date you apply for aid are also included, regardless of whether they receive more than 50% of their support from the parents. Any other person who resides in the household and receives more than 50% support from the parents may also be counted, as long as they will continue to reside with your parents and the support is expected to continue through June 30, 2013. An unborn child who will be born during the award year may also be counted in the household size.</p>
<p>Mom2 is correct. Except for the parents’ own eligible children, a person must live in their household **and **receive more than 50% of their support from the parents to be included as members of household. Non of these extended family members qualify as members of household as they don’t live with your parents.</p>
<p>this link provided detailed info about how to answer the questions on FAFSA
<a href=“http://studentaid.ed.gov/sites/default/files/2012-13-completing-the-fafsa.pdf[/url]”>http://studentaid.ed.gov/sites/default/files/2012-13-completing-the-fafsa.pdf</a></p>
<p>Swimcatsmom and mom2ck are right. The one thing I want to clarify for you is that if you put more dependents than are listed as your parents’ dependents on their taxes, the college will ask them to clarify and correct your fafsa once they realize what is going on. (Any college to which you applied for financial aid can go in and correct your fafsa without getting prior approval from you.) So you need to file it accurately now so your aid awards are accurate.</p>
<p>We also help to support family members. This was taken into account when we planned Happykid’s college budget. Yes, it did restrict her options somewhat, but that is just the way it is. She’s had a great education so far at what is a reasonable price for us.</p>
<p>Sit down with your parents. Find out what they truly can afford to pay for your education given all of their other financial responsibilities, then revise your college list if necessary. You need to be realistic about the costs.</p>
<p>It’s actually very simple since those grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins do not count as dependents. Your parents are going to have to decide whether they want to send money to them for their uses, including your cousins’ tuition or pay yours.</p>
<p>Aww, shucks. My parents do send out a sizable bit of money to our relatives, but very true, mom2collegekids, that is a choice. But like for happymom, it’s also a matter of financial responsibility. My parents are the first/only in their family to not be peasants/poor factory workers. They came to the U.S. for higher education and have worked here ever since, still significantly supporting family back home (gah, but not as dependents, apparently). We’ll definitely be discussing pay arrangements.</p>
<p>And thanks for the clarification, 2collegewego. Yeah, I don’t plan on filing any more dependents than is legally applicable, but it’s a little disappointing to realize how little money there really is for everyone: my family, the colleges, our relatives, etc.</p>
<p>I know, cpt, tough choices. I’m the first kid to go to college, and we’d never much investigated financial aid/scholarships until I recently looked into it. Another issue. Thanks to everyone for the info, including swimcats. Off to learn about real-world money planning I go!</p>
<p>I have my mom and MIL living with us but because their small SS checks are more than the allowed amounts, we can’t claim them as dependents even though they live with us and we take on more than half of their expenses. We’ve been subsidizing my mother since my father died, when she was living with us. DH has also helped out with very urgent family medical and other issues. They don’t count for taxes, nor do they count for financial aid. Only the family living with you and who fit certain provisions.</p>
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<p>IRC 86(a)(1) says that only the taxable portion of Social Security is gross income. SS alone won’t make them flunk the gross income test.</p>
<p>^^</p>
<p>I think this has been addressed before. Seniors getting SS and Medicare benefits often are receiving too much for others to claim them.</p>
<p>I don’t think “income” is the only thing that counts. I think it’s overall support. If half or more of their support comes from SS and Medicare benefits, it can be hard to show that a family is providing 51% of support or more.</p>