I am a high school senior not living with either of my parents. Both have been divorced since I was a baby and remarried to other people. My mother has physical custody, but has had me living with her parents for four years now. She doesn’t provide for me financially in any way, and my father doesn’t provide much but still more than my mother. So when I filled out FAFSA I had my father put his information. When I got to the question “Money received, or paid on your behalf (e.g., bills), not reported elsewhere on this form.” I figured this would have to include all money my grandparents have paid on my behalf. That comes out to over $13,000 though and my EFC came out over 16000.
The FAFSA question is asking about money received or paid on your behalf in 2019. To answer your question, it would help to know what kind of payments on your behalf and money received by you make up the $13,000.
My grandparents are providing everything I need financially. Anything a parent/guardian would pay for a child is included in that $13,000. The only money received from one of my parents is $245 a month in child support from my father to my mother which is then sent to my grandparents.
No, you don’t need to report the money they pay for your normal expenses. If you have any bills IN YOUR NAME that they pay (like if you have a car loan in your name or a cell phone plan in your name only that your grandparents actually pay), you would report that. Once you start college, the rule about reporting money paid for bills in your name + any money your grandparents pay for your college tuition/fees would need to be reported in a later year (when the FAFSA base year catches up to that year). You can go ahead and update your FAFSA with the correct amount.