<p>I live with my mother and stepfather, although they are not married, and do not plan to be any time soon. My biological father lives outside the country, and does not hold custody of me. My mother briefly married and divorced prior to her relationship with my stepfather. The question is, whose financial information do I submit to the FAFSA/CSS Profile/other fin aid programs? I'm inclined to only submit my mother's, as I'm only listed on her tax returns, and again, my parents I currently live with are not married. However, my HS transcript lists that I live with my mother and "step father", and thus, to avoid the chance of a discrepancy hurting my chances, I've listed both of them as my parents to the colleges I've already applied to (I've yet to apply to several more, however.) I guess my overall question is, is it ok to only submit my mother's fin info to the FAFSA and if so, will the fact that I mention that I live with two parents in college apps cause a serious problem to admissions? Any advice is appreciated.</p>
<p>Since your mom isn’t married, you only list your mom’s info. If anyone later questions, just state that your mom is not married to your “step-father” (so he’s really not your step-father).</p>
<p>Ok, got it. So there’s no problem if I list both of them in college apps (Due to the fact that they are my family and live in my household), or do I just play it safe and only list my mother under parent info?</p>
<p>I don’t think you should list your mom’s live-in boyfriend because legally he’s not a family member. You also wouldn’t include him in household size on FAFSA.</p>
<p>You should only list you mother on you applications. Her boyfriend (because that’s what he is legally) is not your stepfather, and I am quite surprised the school has added him to your transcript. Unless your mother claims him on her tax return, he is not part of your household - he just lives in the same house. If you life in a state the recognizes common law marriage, they could start filing taxes as a married couple and be considered married. Otherwise there is no relationship whatsoever.</p>
<p>I would check with your school - while school records may indicate where you live, that’s not something usually listed on your transcript.</p>
<p>Now here’s the problem - if you fill out FAFSA listing him as your father, and listing him as part of your household, you put yourself in a situation where either you or they have committed fraud (and it is likely of little benefit to list him anyway). If you are in a common law marriage state, the federal government could take that as an indication that they consider themselves married - in which case they commit fraud when they file taxes as anything other than married.</p>
<p>FAFSA hooks into your parent’s tax returns. How is your mother filing her taxes? If she is filing as single, head of the household, as she would in the situation you describe, her SO would not be in the picture at all. If they are not married, he is not your stepfather as others have said. </p>
<p>If you are applying to schools that want NCP info; many schools requiring PROFILE or using an additonal application as well as FAFSA do, your biological father may be drawn into the picture and you will have to get a NCP waiver or you won’t get institutional aid from such schools.</p>
<p>thanks for the responses. My mom files her taxes separately and claims me on her records. My only remaining question is that unfortunately, there is one college to which I said I lived with my two parents (in the common app, I put them under the “not married” option). I guess that was just pure stupidity from me, since he’s not my real father (or my legal stepfather), but the common app indicated towards putting down who you lived with. Now, since I’ll be filing the fafsa/css with my mother’s info only, will i be expecting a call from that college to explain that discrepancy in information?</p>
<p>The CSS asks a lot more questions, and this is where you will probably need to record any financial contribution/support your “step father” contributes to the household, assets, etc. Don’t worry, because there won’t be any discrepancy with the form that digs much deeper…</p>
<p>does op need to provide father’s foreign income for css schools?</p>
<p>^^^
Some CSS schools do require the NCP’s info, even if he doesn’t live in the US.</p>
<p>Even on the CSS profile you don’t list your mom’s boyfriend’s info. They aren’t married and that’s all that matters. Better for you in the long run.</p>
<p>You may consider him your father figure and that’s fabulous, but he has no legal standing to be considered someone who is obligated to support you</p>
<p>carimama…</p>
<p>I think the question in post #9 about including the father’s income at some CSS schools concerns the NCP dad who lives in another country. Some schools may require HIS info.</p>
<p>Agree, for FAFSA the OP uses the mother. For CB Profile the OP uses the mother and if necessary uses the biological father or will need to look into the policies regarding a waiver. The OP would not use the mother’s boyfriend for anything, but the mother has an obligation to report income that the boyfriend contributes to the household. I, too, think that it is nice that the OP thinks of the boyfriend as a stepfather. OP you might want to straighten that situation out with your high school, too, while you’re at it.</p>
<p>Mom is under no obligation to include boyfriend’s income except as additional income from, say, a “boarder”. </p>
<p>Yes M2CK, on CSS profile the out-of-country father is expected to complete the noncustodial profile unless the school issues a waiver to him for whatever reason (like no contact or info for the last 27 years). LOL!</p>
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<p>I don’t think so.</p>
<p>If boyfriend pays rent, utilities, food, etc., that needs to be disclosed as nontaxable income, doesn’t it?</p>
<p>It’s not a matter of declaring the boyfriend’s income - that’s irrelevant. But the bills that are paid for Mom and any minors constitute income for Mom.</p>
<p>I don’t think so…FAFSA doesn’t ask what your rent/mortgage/utility/food payments are so if someone else contributes to those I can’t see how it would matter.</p>
<p>Nontaxable income is, to me, stuff like child support, though maybe “housing and food allowances” as listed below falls under that? I think they mean something more like what comes with a job but I suppose the OP should call the FAFSA hotline when filing to be sure.</p>
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<p>If boyfriend pays rent, utilities, food, etc., that needs to be disclosed as nontaxable income, doesn’t it?</p>
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<p>No. For a dependent student, no payments from others toward living expenses need to be reported (an independent student has to report those payments made IN HIS NAME only - for example, if the lease is in his name & dad pays the rent for him).</p>
<p>CSS Profile specifically asks if money is contributed to household from other sources. If mom’s BF kicks in for rent, groceries, cable, whatever, then it needs to be reported.</p>
<p>Not sure about Profile. It may ask that info of the parent of a dependent student. FAFSA does not, and the federal formula does not take it into consideration.</p>