My biological parents divorced in 2006 and my dad got remarried in 2012. He filed his 2015 tax returns jointly with his wife at that point. They recently got divorced and it was finalized about a week ago. If I were to include her income on my dad’s income report, I wouldn’t get any financial aid at all because she made quite a bit of money. Because the total income will be the sum of their incomes, how do I specify to FAFSA, CSS, and the other college financial aid reports that they are now divorced and only his income will be used to pay for college from now on?
@kelsmom please just check what I’m writing for accuracy,
Do you live with your dad? If so…You will file your FAFSA with your dad as your custodial parent. Your stepmom won’t be listed at all. You will only include your dad’s income from 2015. Your tax transcript or link to the IRS Data retrieval tool will not match the income…so be prepared to show documentation of the divorce, and also of your dad’s and stepmom’s incomes…so,the school can figure out JUST your dad’s share of that income.
For the Profile…again…if you live with your dad, you will file the Profile with just your dad. However, your bio mom (and spouse if she has one) will likely need to complete the non-custodial parent Profile.
Now…if you live with your mom…you would use your mom’S info as the custodial parent on the fafsa…no dad info. For Profile, your mom would need to do,the Profile, and your dad the non-custodial parent Profile.
Yes, I live with my dad. I assume that they will contact me when they see that the reported income doesn’t match the income filed on the return…is that right? Thank you @thumper1
There is a place on the Profile to explain other things…you can put something there also.
Yes…you will be contacted regarding verification. But you can also be proactive, and contact the colleges just to ask what to do,in this circumstance. Some might be willing to help,you up front.