Parents don't file taxes? FAFSA help?

My mom is a single mother and doesn’t file taxes, but my grandfather claims her and I (and my sibling) as a dependent. We don’t share a last name and he isn’t my legal guardian, and on CSU/FAFSA apps it asks for my parent/guardian’s income, which would be 0.00…

I’ve asked a lot of different people. My counselor recommends just putting in my mother’s income and waiting to see if they ask for additional info, but different teachers think that I should put in my grandfather’s income since he claims me. Thoughts?

you should enter the info for the person who claims you as a dependent.

No, enter your parent information.

You will be selected for verification, which is when you explain about the grandparent supporting your mom.

Federal financial aid formulas do not require a grandparent to fund college. The instructions clearly state that a grandparent is not your parent unless they have legally adopted you.

https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/resources/fafsa-parent-text

@NCalRent where did you get this very inaccurate information?

The student has a living biological parent…who is her legal guardian. This student would enter her custodial parent information…and this is her mother it seems. If the mother doesn’t work, then fine…her income will be $0. Th mom will also need to complete non-filer statements for all the colleges.

With a $0 income, and therefore a $0 EFC, this student will almost definitely be selected for verification. The colleges will want to know how the family is paying their day to day living expenses on $0 income. This is when they will provide documentation that the grandfather is supporting the family. And that won’t affect aid because the grandfather is not her legal guardian.

This student would NOT NOT list the grandparent on the fafsa just because the grandparent declares her as a dependent. Sorry…that’s not how it works.

The fafsa doesn’t give two hoots who declares a student as a dependent on taxes.

If mom does not make enough money that she is required to file taxes, then she must get a non filers statement from the IRS

You will definitely get pulled for low income verification as the schools will want to know hoe you are being provided with food clothing and shelters. If your mom receives public assistance or food stamps you must get budget letters from the agencies. If she is receiving SS benefits then she must get an award letter from the SSA

sorry - my info above is incorrect.

@sybbie719 While some of those papers may be requested during the verification process, none of that is necessary to file the FAFSA. Let’s take things one step at a time and not scare the OP out of filing for financial aid!

Correct, they are not needed to file the FAFSA,.

Op should know what the next steps entails because they will be flagged for verification and they will not get any aid until they supply the documentation needed for the verification. OP can to start gathering information especially if s/he looking to apply to an opportunity program, SEOG, work study or other program with limited aid.

I was asked for some of those verification documents the first year my kids were in college because I asked for professional judgment as I’d had a job loss so the tax returns for the prior showed a high salary. After that, when I had low or no income, I was never asked for any of it. I did file a tax return even if not required to do so because the income was too low. I’ve never been asked to prove I have two kids in college or what the other school charged. I’ve found that answering the questions asked is enough.

@twoinanddone, your situation is different from OP’s. As you said yourself, you asked for a professional judgement and had to provide paperwork to support your request. You had filed taxes. In a subsequent year you were low income. Op’s Family is totally being supported by their grandparents so their process will be different from yours.

@AroundHere , I’ll chalk it up to occupational hazard since I support a lot of low income students with almost aby type of daily situation that you can think of.

NYC/NYS can be generous to low income students who can be accepted into their opportunity porograms (HEOP, SEEK, EOP and college discovery). However they are on a first come first served basis to prove your financial eligibility once you get through the academic threshold. There are also a limited number of spots so there is really no waiting to get your stuff together, if you successfully complete the academic, the financial and the interview, you are in. The process moves forward, just without you.

Not claiming to have all of the answered. However, since we all knows that Op is going to be selected for verification, why not let him/her know the next steps?

Just saying not every school asks for information on how you pay your bills just because you have a low income. One school never asked.