<p>Somemom: I hear you about the IRS. I do taxes for a living :)</p>
<p>Lunar_eclipse: My children did have UGMA accounts which they could not access until they were 25. As UGMAs, they counted on the FA forms. They were "owned" by their grandfather. So, those accounts were liquidated (and of courser kiddie taxes paid --oof) and as such were an asset of their grandfather, which last year didn't have to go on the forms, which was straightforward. In your quote, "owned by the parents and/or the dependent student " doesn't take into account more than one. </p>
<p>sblake7: I understand what you're saying, but I'd still rather have an asset of 5K than 14K. If they take a percentage of the 529 as an asset, it would be better to have 5% (or whatever it is) of 5K and 5% of 9K (student #1 and #2 respectively), than 5% of 14K and 5% of 14K. The second way effectively doubles the contribution amount (Althought it is only a $700 difference, I am a single mother of three with fairly low income and that amount would have an impact on me).</p>
<p>When completing the FAFSA, the "student" is the one whose name is listed on the form. All directions are relative to that "student", not to all students in the family.</p>
<p>Question 42:
If you are a dependent student who owns qualified educational benefits or education savings accounts, such as Coverdell Savings Accounts, 529 College Savings Plans, or the refund value of 529 prepaid tuition plans, you must report the values in Question 92, along with your parents asset information.</p>
<p>Question 92:
Your parents must report in Question 92 all qualified educational benefits or education savings accounts, including Coverdell savings accounts, 529 college savings plans, and the refund value of 529 prepaid tuition plans that they own for any member of the household. This includes accounts owned by the dependent student.</p>