<p>I accidentally put that my parents were married but it turns out they haven't been married all these years. that means that I need to go back and put them as single. That being said, more than likely, they'll want proof. How do they verify this information? is it all through the way that my parents file taxes and what the taxes say? also another problem, I also put that my parents were married on my applications and css profile. I can't fix that. will that be a problem?</p>
<p>FAFSA has those things verified by the tax returns. CSS PROFILE is corrected by the FAFSA numbers which again have the IRS forms as back up. Colleges, as a rule don’t check on things like that in terms of admissions because they don’t care. However, you might want to send an e-mail to the Financial Aid and Admissions offices of each college letting them know of the correction since that is how corrections to PROFILE are made, and because it’s correcting misinformation on the application which is the right thing to do. </p>
<p>How do they file their taxes?</p>
<p>I’ve never heard of having to provide “proof” that parents are married, when you put down that they are married.</p>
<p>Since they live together, both their stuff goes on your forms anyway.</p>
<p>mom2collegekids, my mother filed already as head of household since she has two depandants. my father will not file because he pretty much didn’t work last year. Earned maybe 3k… In this case will i be fine with the verification process?</p>
<p>cptofthehouse, what do you mean by profile?</p>
<p>Profile is what a lot of private schools use in addition to FAFSA. CSS Profile.</p>
<p>You’d think your dad would want to file to get any tax paid back. But I think there is a non filer form he may be asked to fill out.</p>
<p>Isn’t there a new “domestic partnership” category on FAFSA this year? I’ve got a student whose parents never married. She had to select this option this year. </p>
<p>"cptofthehouse, what do you mean by profile? "</p>
<p>I was talking about CSS PROFILE which you mentioned in your original post. You filled out the CSS PROFILE for financial aid. You said, “I also put that my parents were married on my applications and css profile.” You should, IMO, email the financial aid offices of every school to which you applied and let them know that you erroneously put down that your parents were married on the forms, when they are not. That you have corrected the FAFSA, but if the school uses CSS PROFILE as well, you can’t correct them , as you yourself noted, so you let each financial aid office know. That is how CSS PROFILE corrections are done–you let the school financial aid office know. </p>
<p>I recommend you do this because a lot of auto checks in the fin aid process could just be things matching. LIke Tax info matching FAFSA which in turn is the check for CSS PROFILE. Maybe not, but if it does indeed get cross checked, and flagged, you could lose time. </p>
<p>Though I don’t think Admissison is going to care a whit, just let them know so that you have notified all of the error and it is so duly noted. </p>
<p>cptofthehouse, Oh I see, Thank you very much</p>
<p>“I accidentally put that my parents were married but it turns out they haven’t been married all these years”</p>
<p>Just curious…</p>
<p>Are you saying that for the past 18 years, you’ve thought that your parents were married, and only recently learned that they’re not? That seems odd. Do they introduce each other as “my wife” or “my husband”? Does your mom use her maiden name? </p>
<p>Do you live in a Common Law Marriage state? If so, then they may be married that way.</p>
<p>I don’t think it matters much anymore. Even unmarried parents residing together must list both parent incomes and assets on the FAFSA.</p>
<p>One of the new changes on the FAFSA as others have mentioned that even if your oarents are not married to one another, if they live together, both of their incomes and assets go yon the Fafsa. </p>
<p>The challenge that you have is that the filing status on the Fafsa does not match the filing status with the IRS. This means that you most likely will not be able to use the irs data retrieval took until something is corrected. Until your stuff is verified with the IRS with either the data retrevial tool or IRS transcripts there will be no monies disbursed or paid on your behalf. I would recommend tgat you contact the financial aid offices to get assistance in correcting this. </p>
<p>If your mom is not claiming your dad then your dad will most likely have to get a IRS non filers form to submit to the school </p>
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<p>Seriously? I never checked or saw my parent’s marriage certificate until my mom passed away.</p>
<p>Your last question was a good one, the rest was just nosy and judgemental.</p>
<p>I’m just curious how an 18 year old wouldn’t know if his parents were married or not. I don’t care that his parents aren’t married…I’m not judging that at all.</p>
<p>It’s not unusual for a child to never see the marriage certificate. That’s not strange. Probably many/most folks have never seen their parents marriage license. However, most seem to know whether or not their parents were married.</p>
<p>However, it seems odd to “not know”. I mean there are usually wedding pictures, wedding rings, mentions of the “wedding day”, introductions of “this is my wife Susie” or “this is my husband Bill”…so usually the info is “out there” whether parents are H&W. Usually couples (who appear to be married) are asked, “so, how long have you been married.”</p>
<p>Usually, when parents aren’t married, they’ve stated such, “uh, we didn’t feel the need to get married, but we’re still a family” or what-have-you.</p>
<p>You said you never saw your parents’ marriage certificate until your mom passed away … So there is a marriage certificate?</p>
<p>Yellow…annoyingdad is not the OP.</p>
<p>Thanks for the heads up, thumper1! I’m kind of new to this and rarely chime in (can you tell??).</p>
<p>mom2collegekids, actually i’ve known they haven’t been married but i thought they got married back in 2012. They were planning it but never made a big deal about it since they have been together for so many years. I honestly thought they just got married without anyone else knowing. I guess I was wrong</p>
<p>sybbie719,Yea I know i have to include both incomes, however, since my mom already filed as HOH, I don’t want the financial aid office giving me a lot of trouble because the taxes were filed “wrong” when they really weren’t. Also, my “dad” in this case is my step dad. Do i still include his income? since technically he doesn’t have any obligations towards me since they’re not even married.</p>
<p>sounds like someone trying to dabble in fin aid fraud to me – which a felony. but what do I know…</p>