I am in my second year of college. My mom remarried this year and my new step father is a US citizen working for a US company overseas. She has moved there to be with him, but keeps an address in the US to manage some rental properties and still pays taxes in our home state. I have received FASFA aid for the last two years and am keeping my residence address here. What will happen when I put my mom’s new address overseas?
If you are a U.S. citizen, you can still file the FAFSA.
You will be required to include your stepdad’s income and assets on your FAFSA form.
You will not be able to use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool…you will have to get 2018 income and tax info from your step dad, and enter that along with your mom’s income…and assets for both.
Do you go to a instate public university? If so, your instate status for tuition purposes could be questioned in some states.
When you say you received “FAFSA aid” what do you mean? FAFSA is a form, and doesn’t give aid.
If your mum owned multiple rental properties, did you really get any FA? What is your college state, and what kind of $ numbers? Your mum might be think she continues to use her US address, but the IRS info won’t line up. Now her married financials will affect aid. Keep her in the loop. Have her run FAFSA numbers. It seems unlikely she won’t be aware that her change of status will impact any aid.
First of all, is this a state public university here?
It depends upon state laws as to whether she remains a state resident if she is temporarily out of the country or even out of state. It is not uncommon for married couples to have separate state residencies.
But over riding all of that, is how the college looks at it. I would call the office at the college that makes this Determination, and see how they view moving out of country with the intent of returning evidenced by keeping state residence, paying state taxes, etc etc. I’ve not seen this as a problem— a lot of my friends did overseas assignments in careers that took them there. My BIL is currently working overseas and his son remains instate for tuition purposes despite that
It’s not an issue in terms of filing necessary financial aid forms. A lot of Americans overseas. The big issue is that your stepfather’s income and assets are now front and center in terms of amount of financial aid you may get. Doesn’t matter if there is a prenup or contract stating he doesn’t have to pay. He wouldn’t have to pay, but the school is still going to use his info for financial aid calculations, and it’s your problem if he won’t give the info or refuses to pay
This so varies by college. At some public colleges, if you enroll as an instate resident, you remain one until you graduate. At others, if the family moves OOS, that instate for tuition status does not continue.
Anecdote 2. My BIL lives overseas…and none of his three kids had instate residency anywhere in the United States because the family didn’t reside in the United States. It didn’t matter that they owned and paid taxes on real estate they owned (2 houses in two states). Fact was…they resided abroad. No instate residency.