<p>So I recently discovered that my grandparents (who are not my legal guardians) created a trust fund (forgive me if I'm using the wrong terminology here) of some sort for me when I was about three. I was not aware of this until today, and I was all ready to fill out my FAFSA with my/my mother's information (parents are divorced - my mother, who is my primary guardian, is low income, and I have virtually nothing in savings and do not have a job). As of now, I don't know how much is in the fund, but I will provide that information as it becomes available to me. I do know that it's through an investment firm (Edward Jones, if that helps)...essentially my question is what do I do with this information? Do I need to include it when I fill out the FAFSA (I'm guessing the answer to that is probably yes, unfortunately), and if so, where?</p>
<p>How low is your mother’s income? </p>
<p>If your mom’s income is low enough, you do not have to include any of your info (assets or income or trust funds).</p>
<p>Well…it’s not just low income. There are other qualifiers in addition. But to the OP…what is your mom’s income?</p>
<p>I remember last time I asked her (when I was plugging info for some college financial aid calculators), it was $29,000/year</p>
<p>Do you qualify for free or reduced lunch? Do you and your mom file a 1040A or EZ tax form?</p>
<p>I did qualify for a free lunch at one time when my mother was unemployed…but that was in middle school, so I doubt it’s relevant now. And yes, she filed an EZ form</p>
<p>You still qualify for free/reduced lunch based on her income. You need to apply for that when you get back to school. Your income is definitely low enough for free/reduced lunch. Get the form from the school office and have your mom fill it out.</p>
<p>^^ Can you explain to the OP why receiving free or reduced lunch is important?</p>
<p>As a student who received free lunches for several years, I think it’s important for kids to take advantage of these programs because every dime a low income family saves can go somewhere else that it’s badly needed. Maybe the mom isn’t aware they qualify. I don’t know if being on reduced/free lunch program is something colleges are aware of or if they factor that in when determining financial aid, but it probably can’t hurt there either.</p>
<p>With that parent income and another qualifier such as free/reduced lunch or the parent filing a 1040a/ez, the student qualifies for the simplified means test for fafsa in which case neither parental nor student assets are counted toward efc. The trust wouldn’t affect fafsa efc.</p>
<p>OP, look at the simplified formula qualifiers, page 4 here:</p>
<p><a href=“http://ifap.ed.gov/efcformulaguide/attachments/091913EFCFormulaGuide1415.pdf”>http://ifap.ed.gov/efcformulaguide/attachments/091913EFCFormulaGuide1415.pdf</a></p>
<p>Thank you all so much for your help…so would I not include the savings in the trust fund at all? Or am I to include it, assuming the government will use the simplified EFC formula and ignore it for the purpose of calculating my financial aid?</p>
<p>If you qualify for the simplified means test, the online fafsa skip logic may or may not still ask for asset info but in any case won’t use it in calculating your EFC. So I would still find out the value, but it shouldn’t matter. It’s unlikely your mom files the 1040EZ though. I would assume she claims you as a dependent and would need to at least file a 1040A. Do your parents alternate years claiming you? What will matter is how she files for 2014. But a 1040A is still good for the simplified formula.</p>
<p>My parents do alternate years claiming me…2014 is my dad’s year, so I have no idea how that will affect the situation</p>
<p>Who claims you on taxes doesn’t matter for fafsa. Whomever you live with the most in the 12 months preceding filing fafsa is your custodial parent and is who’s info you use on fafsa. What filing status does your mom file with in the years she doesn’t claim you? She should still be able to file a 1040A if other tax considerations allow it. But you should look into whether you qualify for free/reduced lunch. If you do, that will satisfy that requirement for the simplified formula regardless of which tax form your mom files.</p>
<p>That is why I was asking. Thank you annoyingdad for posting the link for the simplified needs test.</p>
<p>Well the problem with the whole claiming thing is that my mother tries to claim me as her dependent every year, and on the years where it’s my dad’s turn, he has to send in some paperwork to get it fixed, so I’m guessing mom always fills out the same form. I will look into whether or not I qualify for a free/reduced lunch at my school (based off of the information you guys have given me, I probably do)</p>
<p>Correction, my mom has been filing out the 1040A, not the EZ</p>
<p>1040 A is OK as well for simplified needs…if you qualify.</p>
<p>Are you sure you own that account, anyway? You are the legal owner and not them?</p>