<p>I have many questions and concerns regarding my unusual circumstanes. Please advise. My husband and I have been separated since 03/2009. We are not legal yet but we have not lived together since. We plan to get a divorce ASA we can afford one. We do still file our taxes as married filing jointly because we both benefit from it. I am am a stylist in bus for one year. We filed a loss on the shop Schedule C because I did not make a profit. I decided to go back to school and I am in the process of filling out my FAFSA. I was advised not to report his income bc we have been separated for over a year and only to put my income. Is this good advise? My gross profit was $2526. My Gross income was $1,251 my loss was 8,777, so I really did not make anything. I am confused on what income I should report. Please help! </p>
<p>Should I report that he pays me $ 550.00 a mon in child support?</p>
<p>If I am picked for verification, would a separation agreement bw he and I be considered as proof?</p>
<p>have many questions and concerns regarding my unusual circumstanes. Please advise. My husband and I have been separated since 03/2009. We are not legal yet but we have not lived together since. We plan to get a divorce ASA we can afford one. We do still file our taxes as married filing jointly because we both benefit from it. I am am a stylist in bus for one year. We filed a loss on the shop Schedule C because I did not make a profit. I decided to go back to school and I am in the process of filling out my FAFSA. I was advised not to report his income bc we have been separated for over a year and only to put my income. Is this good advise? My gross profit was $2526. My Gross income was $1,251 my loss was 8,777, so I really did not make anything. I am confused on what income I should report. Please help! </p>
<p>Should I report that he pays me $ 550.00 a mon in child support?</p>
<p>If I am picked for verification, would a separation agreement bw he and I be considered as proof?</p>
<p>You need to ask the college financial aid office what you need to have to file as separated. My understanding is that you have to have an official separation document filed. OTherwise, anyone can file as separated. I believe you can file as married until you are legally divorced in terms of taxes. But do get the information from someone who makes these determinations.</p>
<p>No you don’t. Answer the questions on FAFSA honestly. If you are separated - doesn’t have to be ‘legal’ then use your information. Some states don’t even have “legal separation”.
If you have joint accounts you would include your share of the account - normally half.</p>
<p>I believe there is a place on fafsa to report child support.</p>
<p>I have a separation agreement that was stamped by a notary public. In the state of Louisiana you cannot file for legal separation and we absolutely cannot afford the legal process for a divorce at this time. We do not have a joint checking account but we did file a joint tax return. The financial office is asking why we still file a joint return, if we are separated. Not sure what to do. I cant afford the tuition and I cant afford a divorse. I am caught BW a rock and a hard place.</p>
<p>You can file as separated, using only your income. You may be selected for verification - if so, be prepared to submit the joint return and your separation agreement. You MUST declare the child support he paid you in 2009 (but not the expected 2010 payments - those will catch up with you on next year’s FAFSA).</p>
<p>You said the aid office asked why you filed a joint return. Because legally, you CAN! Let them know that you filed with a legal filing status, and offer to give them a copy of your separation agreement. The aid office is just trying to make sure you aren’t trying to get more aid by not including your H’s income (many try to do that), and that you are filing with a correct filing status (which you are).<br>
As far as income info goes … if your schedule c income is actually a loss, you report it as 0. If there are no wages on line 7, your income from work is 0. If there is income on line 7 from your husband, you will need to figure out what your AGI would be WITHOUT his income. If the AGI is negative, you enter that as a negative number.</p>
<p>Actually, the school can request whatever they want in the case of separation. Since OP’s school questioned why she is separated but filing jointly, and since she said she has the separation agreement, I suggested submitting that as proof of her status. </p>
<p>Some schools are a lot pickier than others about separation. Those schools with more money to award are going to be wary of “separation” that is not legal. They may request proof of separate residences, formal agreements, etc. - and some may still require the spouse’s info be reported if the separation is not actually formal. This is one of those gray areas where schools may interpret regulations differently.</p>
<p>*
Some schools are a lot pickier than others about separation.*</p>
<p>You don’t have to be legally separated with any kind of legal documentation, but schools are going to be wary in some cases. Some “separated couples” still reside in the same household and that always looks odd to schools because virtually any couple could claim such (open sep bank accts, etc) to enable only declaring one income. </p>
<p>In the OPs case, since they have sep addresses, it would be easier for them to verify that they are separated - even if they didn’t have some notarized paper that it sounds like they did themselves and had a notary witness their signatures…</p>
<p>FAFSA specifically requires one spouse to have left the household.
In cases of separated parents who filed their tax returns jointly, there are specific instructions on how to do that which also include how to handle any joint bank accounts.</p>
<p>This is all spelled out in the instructions when you complete the fafsa. IMO - you can’t go wrong if you are following the directions.</p>
<p>
wonder how they can justify this when you live in a state that has no avenue for legal separation.
OTOH - I can understand the aid office wanting to confirm that there is no fraud involved.</p>
<p>kelsmom: (Q36)Ok,On line 7 from my gross income $1251 would this be my AGI? (Q39-40)On line 12 is Bus income or loss (8,777). Should I put( $-8777) as wages, salaries, tips, etc or would I put 0? On line21 under other income they also have 2,241 added to my ex-husbands total income. The aid office has a copy of separation agreement and a bill with ex-husbands name and current address. JustAMOMOF4: Where on the app would I report amount of child support? (Q 37)Income Tax amount should I put half of the return he received or 0? (Q38) exemptions he claimed 3 but how many should I put if I only report my portion of info on income tax? Just want to say tks for all your advise. I am so frustated with my situation and prbly giving you a head ache. lol</p>
<p>Your AGI is your portion of line 37 of the IRS 1040. So you’d add your portions of lines 7-21 (don’t include your ex-husband’s other income) and subtract out any of your deductions reported on lines 23-35. I think if your AGI is less than zero, you can only report zero.</p>
<p>FAFSA specifically requires one spouse to have left the household.</p>
<p>That’s interesting because there were two students on CC where both parents still lived in the household and they were only declaring their lower income parent’s income because that was supposedly their “custodial parent”. </p>
<p>I thought that was rather flaky because obviously the lower income parents’ were not paying for all/most of the household expenses yet by only claiming one income, it gave the appearance that that was the case.</p>
<p>I think if both are living in the same household then both incomes should be counted. I know that’s not the case iwth the OP, but was the case with two students on CC last spring.</p>
<p>Some couples are divorcing & living together afterwards due to economic realities. In such cases, the parent income is split & the student would use the higher income. For separation, though, both parents’ info would be needed if the family still lives together (although some aid offices might use PJ to do otherwise, I suppose).</p>
<p>One of the issues we face is parents who give us two addresses but then we discover that they actually do live together. Sometimes the parents will both file head of household using separate addresses & tell us they are separated - and we later find out that they really live together. So … given the lengths folks go to in order to try to get more money, aid officers have to be wary. If a couple really is separated, they will be able to show that somehow if necessary.</p>
<p>kelsmom: (Q36)Ok,On line 7 from my gross income $1251 would this be my AGI? (Q39-40)On line 12 is Bus income or loss (8,777). Should I put( $-8777) as wages, salaries, tips, etc or would I put 0? On line21 under other income they also have 2,241 added to my ex-husbands total income.</p>
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<p>Do you have a W2 in your name in the amount of $1251? And is the business loss all from your business? If yes to both, then the income from work is $1251. Your AGI is $1251+(8777). If you can’t enter a negative number for AGI, just put 0 - but we can enter negative numbers for AGI, so I “think” you can. If not, the software probably has some sort of logic based on your other info provided that takes the negative amount into account. It’s not going to matter, anyway, because your EFC would be 0 either way. If the $2221 other income is from your husband, that shouldn’t be included if you are using just your info. Again, though, that is not going to matter, anyway - the Parent Contribution will be a 0 EFC even with that (unless you have a bunch of assets).</p>