“What I think they want to do is just say my dad didn’t file because he had no income/a job. He didn’t/doesn’t have a ‘job’, but he does real estate deals and all that.”
Oh NO. Dont do that!
He is SELF EMPLOYED, and that is considered to be a real job, just like any other one. Dont be fooled.
Sounds like he is trying to hide income from the IRS.
They will come down on him like sledgehammer if they do an audit and find he has not reported income.
@mommdc
I do plan on taking out a student loan, but, it’s going to be tough to sell them on it. They’re pretty against them due to having trouble paying off their own student loans, the interest rates, etc. Sure, they’d like the free money but it’s really difficult to get them to change their minds about anything.
@thumper1
I’ll let them know about the non-filers statement. Maaaybe that’ll help - it is something I didn’t know. Thanks for the information.
@menloparkmom
That’s the thing - he HAS reported his income to the IRS. That’s why they don’t want to use his tax returns at all. They’re just trying to hide it from the school, entirely, even though they are both pretty much connected to each other.
Do you have good grades, high test scores? What would you like to study?
I’m sorry you are in this situation.
@mommdc
My grades are ‘okay’, at best, honestly - I didn’t do very well my senior year due to stress at home. Honestly, I was hoping to retake my SAT for a better score and perform very well in a CC before applying to a university and MAYBE getting in somewhere good then but, I’m not sure how nice that would appear to colleges without having to go “here is my very sad life story,” and I just don’t want to do that. I wish I was more stable growing up, but I’m just trying to ‘make up for it,’ I guess.
I want to study marketing/advertising a lot.
Thanks for your kind words, btw. I appreciate them and everyone else for trying to help out.
"That’s the thing - he HAS reported his income to the IRS. That’s why they don’t want to use his tax returns at all.
Well there is no way the school will offer FA without his IRS info.
He is being delusional thinking there is any way around that. not going to happen…
"I’ll let them know about the non-filers statement. Maaaybe that’ll help "
That wont work honey because he HAS filed.
Do you have access to their tax returns? If so just use them to fill out the FAFSA and be done with it. If they don’t want to be involved in filling it out with you then I guess they’ll never know. I think that’s a better option than just not submitting the FAFSA because if you don’t submit it you may be locking yourself out of merit scholarships as well.
@menloparkmom
Well, yes - that’s what I mean - it may help them realize it’s not a good idea since he can’t fill that form out since he has already filed.
@choirsandstages
I don’t, unfortunately. Only access to what they give to me and I can’t ask for my dads since… well, they’re not ok with that.
Well I hope your parents will listen to reason. Even if the income was $50k there would not be much Pell, maybe $2000 a year, $1000 for one semester. So I would tell them you are willing to work this summer to earn some money and with the federal student loan you should be able to afford community college.
With the new requirements income will have to be verified by the schools so there is no way to cheat and it would make no difference in aid anyway.
If they are married filing separate,then your mother’s return will have your father’s social security number on it. I would think that you could input the SSNs for both and then use the IRS data retrieval tool on the FAFSA. It would link both social security numbers to tax returns, and I would think it would include them both. I can’t believe they are trying to risk so much for a Pell grant for CC. I’m sorry that you are trying to be the adult voice of reason in your household, but I am proud of you for doing so!
If you look at the [FAFSA website](https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/fafsa/filling-out/parent-info#unwilling-parents) there’s a way to file when parents refuse to give you financial info. If you follow the instructions, you may be able to take the (~$3500/year) unsubsidized federal student loan. It’s not guaranteed, but worth a shot.
If you can work summers, you can earn ~$3k/year. That gives you ~$6500/year. Is that enough to commute to your local cc? If you’re not going to school this fall you can work the entire year and save that money too.
Sounds like with your parents behavior, if you plan to see them much, you might want to major in criminal justice!
I don’t know what to tell you… but after reading this thread, I want to applaud you for not wanting to go along with what they want you to do. My son was chosen for verification from 3 schools (I file Head of Household) and I had to send it IRS tax transcripts, copies of tax forms, etc. There is no way I could have lied and gotten away with it… at least I wouldn’t have wanted to try. I really think if you start telling one lie, you will be playing cover-up for the next 4-5 years and who wants to live under that cloud? Whatever you decide, just don’t allow yourself to be liable for someone else’s bad judgement - but you obviously know that. I’m so sorry you’re in this situation!
Hello guys.
I am redoing the fafsa and there’s a section in which I can choose to omit their information for “special circumstances.” I am going to contact some school Financial Aid departments to see if I can “prove” these special circumstances somehow or would I even need to (in which case I have outside sources to confirm).
I won’t be able to go to college this year, most likely, but next year I’ll have moved out and be capable of filing in such a way.
Thank you all for your support and good advice.
Edit: the next page just told me what I would need to provide! Thankfully, there’s some evidence from just this year.
Hate to break it to you… but moving out does not remove any of the requirements for needing to provide their info next year.
@intparent
It does if under special circumstances. I don’t want to be very detailed since it’s a sensitive topic, but in the case of…
Well, for goodness sakes, there’s only one option that would make sense on the FAFSA, so I don’t really care to be oh so secretive.
"However, Federal law allows for some exceptions, if you have a special circumstance. The following are examples of some special circumstances where you may submit your FAFSA without providing parental information:
Your parents are incarcerated; or
You have left home due to an abusive family environment; or
You do not know where your parents are and are unable to contact them (and you have not been adopted)."
In my case, it would be the second. I’m currently looking into gathering what I need to provide the evidence for such.
Thanks everyone!
“You have left home due to an abusive family environment”
technically that means your parents have a record of being arrested by the police and charged with abuse. and you would have to prove that you HAVE left home, which also is not the case.
since both are false and you have no PROOF, in the eyes of the LAW, that they have been “abusive” to you, # 2 wont fly.
Unfortunately, your parents are cheap, and selfish, which is not a crime.
dont fight a BATTLE with your parents if you have no way to win the ensuing WAR that will result.
make plans to move out, get a job and start college at a CC when you are old enough to be legally declared independent for FAFSA purposes in Calif. .
@menloparkmom
I don’t have ‘arrested and charged,’ unfortunately, but there is proof from the police of assault - I just didn’t press charges at the time (a regret). I don’t know if they will have a record of it, if it will be sufficient, or if I’ll have to go a step further, but I believe it’s a step in the right direction at this point.
Is it worth it to you to throw that abuse “bomb” at this time?
Once it has been detonated it can’t be undone.
I suggest you sleep on it and talk to people you know and trust who know you and your situation before you go down that road.
good luck to you.
Your odds are not good with that approach. But your parents sound completely unreasonable on this. Have you printed out the requirements and highlighted the information for them?
This is what they can expect if they are caught cheating:
“If you’re thinking of falsifying your FAFSA, just don’t. Under the Higher Education Act of 1965, penalties include a fine of up to $20,000 and/or up to five years in prison. Plus, you’d have to return any aid you had received.”
You AND your parents will be in trouble if you do this.
Well, I’d HAVE to, actually. I’d been toying with the idea of moving out for a long time now but this situation with my parents trying to lie on the FAFSA has broken any idea that it may be a “good idea.” Next year, I would have been moving out and I’d have to “drop the bomb” anyway. They would not have been ok with me moving out at any point in time.
As for the rest of that, I don’t know any people to talk to of the situation. That’s how abuse tends to work - people don’t know.
In any case, I don’t want to stay in a situation where I’m being physically and emotionally abused AND trying to be forced into illegal activities. I can’t handle it, honestly.
Thanks. Sorry if I sound prickly. Bit stressed at the moment.