<p>My son qualified for Pell Grants and Loans for his Freshman Year. If I get married again, will I have to include my new husbands income even though he will not contribute to my sons education? I'd hate to avoid getting married for this reason only.</p>
<p>I'd also apprieciate an EFC calculator link. Didnt find one on the FASFA site. Thanks.</p>
<p>Go to the FAQ’s section of the FAFSA site – or email the FAFSA staff with your question. They are very quick to respond and then you would have accurate information for decision making (versus opinions from strangers on the internet). </p>
<p>Many colleges have an EFC calculator for their particular college. I have not found them useful. The numbers are terrifying and there is too much that is general. </p>
<p>Don’t be afraid to strike up a friendship/relationship with the people in the financial aid office at your son’s college. They are the ones truly in the know. Tell them that you had one situation in January when you filled out the FAFSA but now life is opening up a variety of paths and you are trying to figure out the college cost impacts. What happens if you get married? What happens if you have an inheritance? What happens if you get a better job? At the moment, none of these are true – but they can tell you exactly how these things will impact your son’s fin aid package. </p>
<p>What happens to other kids at other colleges is not particularly helpful to know. What matters is what happens to YOUR kid at HIS college. </p>
<p>So, the people who can shed light are at your son’s college. As long as you are polite, there is no reason for them not to answer your questions. It would be smart to sound reasonable (ie, not like a cheapskate who is trying to pinch every penny out of the school – just a concerned parent who doesn’t want surprises).</p>
<p>If you remarry you do have to include your spouse’s income and assets on FAFSA. The FAFSA instructions are quite specific about it. It is not something individual schools can choose to make different choices about.</p>
<p>from <a href=“http://studentaid.ed.gov/students/publications/completing_fafsa/2010_2011/ques3-5.html[/url]”>http://studentaid.ed.gov/students/publications/completing_fafsa/2010_2011/ques3-5.html</a></p>
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<p>Yes, you would have to include your new husband’s income and assets on your son’s FAFSA filing (for any years you are married when you file). The FAFSA instructions are very clear on this point. </p>
<p>[Completing</a> the FAFSA: Financial Aid from the U.S. Department of Education](<a href=“http://studentaid.ed.gov/students/publications/completing_fafsa/index.html]Completing”>http://studentaid.ed.gov/students/publications/completing_fafsa/index.html)</p>
<p>College board has a fairly accurate EFC calculator - for a FAFSA only school just choose the federal methodology:</p>
<p>[EFC</a> Calculator: How Much Money for College Will You Be Expected to Contribute?](<a href=“http://apps.collegeboard.com/fincalc/efc_welcome.jsp]EFC”>http://apps.collegeboard.com/fincalc/efc_welcome.jsp)</p>
<p>The official FAFSA estimate is called fafsa4caster and can be found here:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.fafsa4caster.ed.gov/F4CApp/index/index.jsf[/url]”>http://www.fafsa4caster.ed.gov/F4CApp/index/index.jsf</a></p>
<p>Yes, you will include your new husband’s information as he will (supposedly) be contributing to the household. You might want to run the calculators with and without his information to see what the difference is.</p>
<p>The FAFSA site has a FAFSA4caster </p>
<p>[FAFSA4caster</a> - Federal Student Aid](<a href=“http://www.fafsa4caster.ed.gov/F4CApp/index/index.jsf]FAFSA4caster”>http://www.fafsa4caster.ed.gov/F4CApp/index/index.jsf)</p>
<p>finaid has a calculator which is out of date as unfortunately it has not been updated for a couple of years but will give you a rough idea</p>
<p>[FinAid</a> | Calculators | Expected Family Contribution (EFC) and Financial Aid](<a href=“Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid”>Expected Family Contribution (EFC) Calculator - Finaid)</p>
<p>I believe college board has one as well.</p>
<p>Yes…you will have to include your H’s income, so it’s very likely that your son will lose his Pell grant in the future - even if your new H isn’t paying for college. </p>
<p>For that reason, some wait until their child’s senior year to re-marry (or end of junior year) because then senior year EFC won’t include new spouse’s income.</p>
<p>If you cannot “make up the difference” if your son loses Pell, then you probably need to delay remarrying.</p>
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<p>Yes. It’s an expected FAMILY contribution. When you marry, this fellow becomes a member of your FAMILY.</p>
<p>To add to Thumper’s post.</p>
<p>The assumption is that even if your new H isn’t going to contribute, YOUR expenses will decrease since you’ll be sharing living expenses with your new H.</p>
<p>For instance…if you’re currently paying $2000 per month for rent/mortgage/utilities/food, then when you’re married, your new H will be paying half of that.</p>
<p>Knowing that your new H’s income will also count for FAFSA, that may serve as a warning to not move to a more expensive housing situation UNLESS your new H understands and accepts that he will have to pay for more of THOSE costs because YOU"LL have to spend more to help your child.</p>
<p>Before you get married, let your fianc</p>
<p>When I was planning to remarry, my (then future) husband went to see a financial advisor, who helped him sort out his retirement savings in such a way as to prevent it from being seen as an asset. He will be 60 this year and we really didn’t have the luxury of time, and it was important to protect what he had.</p>
<p>I think the main problem here will be the new H’s income - which can’t be “protected”. </p>
<p>Unless the new H’s income is low enough that when combines with the mom’s income is still a low family income then the child is not going to qualify for Pell. It doesn’t take much for a family income to not qualify for Pell unless their are other undergrad children in college in the family.</p>