Hi, my mother was engaged to my father when she pregnant with me, but he passed away before i was born/she married him. for my mother’s marital status on the fasfa would i put “widowed” or “never married”
Never married…she was never married, right?
@thumper1 correct! i was just a bit confused bc on the css profile it stated to list my mother as widow (even though she was never married) because my father left her with his dependents, so i was not sure if it was the same for the fasfa
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my father left her with his dependents
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?? who, you?
Even so, I doubt that she is supposed to put widowed on CSS.
can you copy/paste the wording explanation on CSS…that just doesn’t sound right.
Side question, since your father is deceased, were you able to collect SSI?
@mom2collegekids i cannot edit my application where it had the information for it at.
But At the top where it had a question mark it said something like mark parent as widow if spouse died or if he/she is left with his/her dependents.
My mom had two kids with him.( me included for your question of “who you?” Lol)
@Madison85 yes I do collect survivors benefits!
But All in all when I contacted the fasfa help department they told me to put my mom as never married, so I did that!
@mom2collegekids i filled out the css profile in like november so my brain was kinda foggy on what i actually read, but when I looked back i founded out why i answered what i did on the css profile!
It classifies parents that are single and window as the same category: “If the student’s biological or adoptive parent is widowed or single, then all of the parent questions on the application apply to the student’s widowed or single parent.”
I think they are stretching the definition of “widowed” to cover not only cases where the parents were married, but also cases where the parents were raising the children together in a single household even though they didn’t have a marriage license. “never married” is supposed to cover cases where the father is unknown or where he was known but not in the household; it should be contrasted with “domestic partners” or similar terms for couples who live together “without benefit of clergy.”
they don’t have a separate entry for “parents were an intact couple raising a family together in a single household, but not legally married, when one of them died.” if they say to use “widowed” on CSS, you use “widowed” on it. the question is, what to put on FAFSA?
the answer is, you just put your mother’s information. widowed or never married, it doesn’t matter; your father does not live with you. i’m very sorry about that. most people only deal with the “with you” part, you are hit with the “father does not live” part, but either way you give your mother’s information only (unless there is another adult in the household).
i think the most accurate answer is “widowed” because you receive survivor’s benefits. they are asking in order to determine household finances, income, and support. this particular source of income/support will end by law, and i believe it only counts as income to you, not your mother.
you should probably call up a financial aid dean/officer at colleges you’re applying to and get someone experienced to analyze and explain it.
I work in financial aid, and I see no problem with indicating never married. I would not bat an eye at survivor benefits for the children … the father was the father, regardless of whether or not the mom ever married him.