Need Help with Filling Out CSS Profile

Paying for College
1

I have a bit of a problem with how to fill out the parents’ information section on the CSS Profile.

My biological parents are divorced, and my custodial parent (mother) is currently married to my stepfather. I have no contact with my biological father, so will have to ask for a waiver. The complicated part is with mother and stepfather. They are currently separated and will be divorced in about a month. I live with neither (foster family for my senior year in high school due to financial difficulties). I emailed CB for help, and they said to not report my stepfather’s information. This is problematic, since only his financial details are documented. My mother has zero income and savings, but we have no documentation of that to present.
(Neither is a US citizen or resident).

Should I just say that mother and stepfather live in the same household and report both sets of information? And, as for myself, in whose household am I?

2

No, you should not report both incomes. It is okay for your mother to have no income for the reporting year (2017). Schools understand that not every situation is the perfect 2 parent, double income family, and also understand that things change. You report income from 2017 but you report the marital situation as of the date of filing. You’ll have to do a lot of explaining. If the foster situation is court ordered, you may not have to report either parent’s income (I don’t know how that works for CSS; for FAFSA you wouldn’t report any parental income)

If the arrangement is not court ordered, you report your mother’s income if she provides the most support to you, or if you lived with her at all during the last 365 days (since you didn’t live with your father at all).