Inquiry about FAFSA and Pell Grant

Paying for College
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<li><p>Well, I'm an incoming freshmen and I tried searching online about my situation, but I believe my situation is kind of unique. I am 19 years old and unemployed, never had any job before. My father passed away when I was like 11 years old and I live with my mother. My mother used to work at one company before that company broke down and forced her to quit a few years ago. Since then, my mother does not have any jobs and using her own saving money to fund me and my sister. I filed that my mother is dislocated worker and I am not sure if I put it correctly. </p></li>
<li><p>I also live with my aunt, and I believe she put my name in her tax return and I believe, W-2. My aunt received food stamp from the government and she got fired from her work place three years ago. She is also now unemployed. I would like to know if there will be any effect on my Pell Grant?</p></li>
<li><p>Last question, I put that I have $0 income (taxable) since I receive money from my mother every months for living expense. I also put my mother's taxable income as $0 since she is unemployed and using her own saving money. Did I put anything wrong to this situation? </p></li>
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<p>Thank you very much and I appreciate every comments and answers.</p>

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<p>Your aunt can claim you on her taxes - it doesn’t matter for finaid purposes. You will just enter info for your mom. It sounds like she fits the dislocated worker description, if she has not been able to find a job since the last employer laid her off. Does she file a tax return? If not, and if she is not required to file a return, she would just have to fill out a parent non tax filer form if you were to be selected for verification & asked to provide her tax return. If you don’t have to file a return, it’s the same … you would fill out a student non tax filer form if you were ever to be asked to provide a copy of your tax return to the school. You may not be asked for any of this, by the way.</p>

<p>When you fill out your FAFSA, just answer the questions honestly. If the amount is 0, enter 0. If your mom has money in the bank, you would enter the amount for assets, unless the amount is less than a certain number in which case the FAFSA will allow you to skip the question. The FAFSA uses skip logic based on your answers. Never “guess.” Talk to your mom when you complete the FAFSA so that you can be sure to answer everything correctly.</p>