<p>My state doesn't recognize legal separations. My parents separated in the summer of last year. My dad lived on his own for a while but now lives in the room downstairs in our house. They plan to file for an official divorce late this year or early next year when my dad moves out. My question is, can I file FAFSA as my parents being separated, or would I have to wait until papers are filed? Besides food (which is like my dad's "rent"), my mom provides all of my support. There is no real legal documentation of the separation so I'm unsure.</p>
<p>As long as your parents live in the same home, you will have to include both incomes. If they are truly separated, they will need to be able to prove that they live in separate residences.</p>
<p>I would think you would have to include both incomes, since your parents probably filed taxes as married.</p>
<p>It wouldn’t work if, even being separated, your parents both still financially support you. So in your case you can file separated, but you will have to supply both of their financial information.</p>
<p>I filed under my mother because of family issues where we had to leave my abusive father. He also doesn’t pay ANY child support, financially support me, or provide me housing. I wasn’t asked for any legal documentation, other that a date (at my discretion) when they separated. I was pretty much only asked about my living situation (with mother and homeless), parental situation (separated), and who I would be filing under (mother). </p>
<p>BTW, my parents aren’t divorced, they are separated. Separated means that the still are married, but they don’t live together. The FAFSA sees separation and divorce as the same. The FAFSA is a federal program and doesn’t look at the individual state’s definition of separation/divorce.</p>
<p>Pretty much you file under who is financially supporting you. If both of your parents are supporting you (even being separated), they take both of their finances into count. If they are divorced and only one parent is supporting you or one died, they take the parent that is supporting you into count. They will take everything into count to decide your EFC.</p>
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^^
This is completely incorrect for FAFSA. In case of actual separation (which I don’t think the OP’s situation would qualify as at all) and divorce, FAFSA requires only the financial information of the parent the student lives with the most. Any child support or alimony that parent receives from the non-custodial parent would of course be part of the custodial parent’s information. But the non custodial parent’s information is not reported on FAFSA.</p>
<p>However, schools that require profile will often require financial information from both custodial and non custodial parents.</p>
<p>In the case of separation, evidence will be needed to show separation. In the OP’s case, with the parents still living in the same house, no school is likely to consider them separated and both incomes will need to be reported.</p>