My husband and I have been separated for 3 months. I have been a SAHM to our 3 children for the past 3 years. I’m currently living with my sister while looking for employment. I’m also interested in furthering my education; however, I’m not quite sure how to complete my FASFA. Currently, I have no income (due to the separation being mutual) my husband continues to assist me financially (more like child support). However, he made it clear that he will not cover my college tuition. Can someone please share how I should complete my FASFA? Should I selected married (although we’re separated)? Should I still use his income since I don’t have my own? BTW- we filed jointly. Thanks.
@kelsmom, please correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe if you are separated now, you would only put your share of the 2016 income on the FAFSA. You won’t be able to use the IRS data retrieval. You might need to get a tax transcript and show that all of the income on the 2016 tax return was your husband’s.
Also, would the OP qualify as dislocated homemaker, @kelsmom?
When are you planning to begin school? You can’t fill out FAFSA until October 1 if you plan to start in the fall of 2019. If you are starting fall 2018, you fill out the currently available FAFSA and you use your 2016 tax returns. That means the support he sends you now is not relevant.
In response to another poster who asked the same question (but it was her parents who had the recent divorce), this is what @kelsmom said: