<p>Who claims the kid on their income taxes?</p>
<p>^^^
[quote]
He files single,I file single and our daughter files single. Before our daughter started working, HE used to file head of household
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Apparently.</p>
<p>^^ I don't think the OP answered the 'who claims' question correctly.</p>
<p>There is a difference btw a standard deduction and taking an exemption for yourself when filing taxes.</p>
<p>My son is filing single, but not taking an exemption for himself. I am doing that because I am the head of the household. I claim myself and him.</p>
<p>The child would have had to make ALOT of money for them to be taking the $3500 exemption (on top of the $5450 single deduction) on their own tax return.</p>
<p>And it doesn't matter anyway. Who claims the child for IRS purposes is NOT necessarily the person whose income/assets should be on the FAFSA. </p>
<p>How do you figure the mother is the custodial parent if the parents live together but are not married. How is the father 'less' custodial. Is the father's name on the birth certificate (my son's father is not listed). That's the only way I could justify giving 'custody' to the mother based on 'possession' rather than income.</p>
<p>The statement below is pretty clear. The child lived with BOTH parents who aren't married. Put the info down for the one that provided more support, ie the one who made more money. I'm assuming that because the parents Live Together, the person making more $$ would contribute more to the household. That is who should be listed. </p>
<p><<if you="" did="" not="" live="" with="" one="" parent="" more="" than="" the="" other,="" give="" answers="" about="" who="" provided="" financial="" support="" during="" 12="" months="" preceding="" date="" complete="" fafsa="">></if></p>
<p>"How do you figure the mother is the custodial parent" - because I believe the law presumes the unwed mother has sole custody until a court decides otherwise. the operative word is "unwed". It is an assumption I'm making of course regarding their situation as they may very well have gone to court regarding the situation at some time, but I am not an attorney.</p>
<p>the fafsa defines custodial parent this way. This child lived with BOTH parents. It doesn't matter (IMO) what the legal status is</p>
<p><<if you="" did="" not="" live="" with="" one="" parent="" more="" than="" the="" other,="" give="" answers="" about="" who="" provided="" financial="" support="" during="" 12="" months="" preceding="" date="" complete="" fafsa,="">></if></p>
<p>check out ~page 51 on what is a Parent for Fafsa purposes</p>
<p>This is the crux of how the decision is made (from the link Sue provided above): "If you did not live with one parent more than the other, give answers about the parent who provided more financial support during the 12 months preceding the date you complete the FAFSA"</p>
<p>Since the student lives with both biological parents for the entire 12 months, the person who provided themost financial support is the one who is considered the parent for the FAFSA. Example: mom makes 40k per year, dad makes 80k per year....dad is the parent for FAFSA purposes. Mom makes 40k, dad makes 40k, you get to choose. Law references to parent do not matter, tax dependency doesn't matter, FAFSA has it's own rules and regulations and definitions.</p>