I think you guys are reacting to what I’m saying too harshly. All I’m looking for is an answer to a question, I don’t want to do anything wrong, I just want to know if what I asked about is a valid legal move to make. If it is not then I will not consider it.
@mommdc Yes we are low income. The fact that I got a full ride to college is quite incredible.
@GMTTplus7 By “before” I meant the case where my dad kept the money for himself.
Yes, you can give the money to your dad. And then it’s his, not yours.
There’s nothing illegal about giving the money to your dad.
It’s only fraud if whoever has it and is a party on the FAFSA form, doesn’t mention it.
Ok, so if I give the money back to my dad, and file the FAFSA under my mom (legal custodian), then it won’t count towards my EFC and it won’t be considered fraud?
Ok…so checking for clarity. Are your parent divorced?
If so,…just checking…are you saying your mom is your custodial parent, and your dad is not. So you are saying you want to give the money all to your dad so you don’t have to report any of it on your mom’s FAFSA.
Sure…go ahead. But remember…if you give the money to your dad, he is under no obligation to give it back to you…for any reason.
http://www.collegedata.com/cs/content/content_payarticle_tmpl.jhtml?articleId=10089
This says you need to move $ out of your acct 2 years prior.
@thumper1 Yes they are divorced, and technically my mom is my custodial parent. I don’t have a relationship like that with my dad though, I can promise you he would give it back to me. He doesn’t care about money or anything, he is a very good guy. Only legally is my mom custodial though; my parents aren’t the typical divorced couple (they don’t live together or anything though).
@HRSMom Thanks for finding that. I am not entirely sure that will apply in this case though, since it is not money that would be known about if it were handed back to my dad, and it is not “normal” money. It really is my dad’s money, I just have it right now. I also think the two years thing that that website states is probably more of a recommendation than law.
Checking this…it would indicate that your benefit would have ended either two months after you became 19 OR when you graduated from HS…whichever came FIRST.
So this benefit likely was paid on your behalf before you graduated from HS…right?
How much of the $9000 in the bank was from this benefit…paid in 2015?
@thumper1 I believe it was around $7000 (January - June). I didn’t get any of it until after I had completed the FAFSA last year however.
But it’s not your dad’s money. Either A) it’s his benefit from SS and he gave it to you (meaning it’s now your money); or B) it’s your benefit from SS and was never your dad’s money to begin with.
If you’re giving the money to your dad to improve your financial aid with the expectation that your dad will give the money back to you once financial aid is no longer a consideration, that would be considered fraud.
Why should you have to pay? Because you and your parents are first in line to pay for your education. Where do you think that money for your financial aid comes from ? Us, other people’s parents whose taxes go to fund your education. Why is it ok for other people’s parents and tax payers to fund your education, but it is not ok for you to fund your education?
So you lived with your mom the whole year? Lived with her more than your dad?
If his mom qualifies for simplified method then the asset wouldn’t count, correct?
I wonder if this is considered your income because it is a child benefit?
If you give your dad the $9,000 then it is his money. So you would give away additional $7,200 to save $1,800?
When your dad gave th money to,you, it became YOUR money.
Yes, I wondered the same thing. It sounds like the money was directly deposited in OP’s bank account by SS.
@mommdc Well like I said I wouldn’t really be giving the money away; at some point it would come back around to me. I wasn’t sure if this was legal though. What is the “simplified method”? EDIT: I did live with her somewhat more than my dad throughout the year, but I move around quite frequently.
@sybbie719 Yeah I get it man, enough with the hyperbole. I never said it wasn’t ok for me to fund my own education; I am perfectly willing to do so, I just want to do so in the least expensive way possible. I’m asking a question about the legality of doing this. I understand you’re a taxpayer, you don’t want to fund my education, etc., but if it is a legal thing to do, I don’t believe I am at fault. $1800 is a lot of money to me; I know many of the people on this website come from fairly affluent families (but perhaps you don’t) and don’t think so much about $1800, but it is a lot to me. It is a fault of the system if this is not something that I am supposed to do but am able to do so anyways. In fact, I came in here not even knowing if this is not something that I am supposed to do; I wanted your opinions.
@BelknapPoint @thumper1 Ok, so I guess it is my money legally. It was deposited in my back account by SS directly; does that make it count as income? If I give it back to him and it is not included in the FAFSA, and I DON’T have plans of reacquiring the money after college anytime soon, would that still be considered fraud (I mean at the very least, I would get it back when he passes away)?
The SS web page that was linked in two earlier posts talks in terms of the benefit belonging to the child:
“Click on the items below for a description of benefits that may be paid to your children.”
“Benefits For Your Children”
“…your children may also qualify to receive benefits…”
“…each qualified child may receive a monthly payment…”
“If your child is eligible for benefits this year…”
I’m no expert on SS benefits (give me a few years, though), but it sure sounds like the payments that OP received in the months between his father’s retirement and his graduation from high school are OP’s entitlement, based on his father’s SS earnings record.
Also, if it is considered fraud to do what I asked about, did I essentially screw up by having SS directly deposit the money into my account instead of his?
@BelknapPoint You might very well be right. However (and my dad may have been wrong), I was told by him that it was for him. I had to call SS (and wait for god knows how long on that phone…) to have them give the money to me instead.
It’s income, but I’m not sure if FAFSA disregards it or not. Unless you’re making an outright gift of the money to your father, with no (ZERO) expectation that it will ever come back to you, EVER, what you’re talking about is fraud.