A friend of ours whose daughter is going to college this fall told us that one does not need and actually is not advised to provide parents’ non-retirement assets on FAFSA and she was not even sure that such a line exists on FAFSA at all. She said that only information you provide on FAFSA is income tax via IRS retrieval and colleges may ask for parents’ assets in a separate request and then you will provide them otherwise “do not volunteer more information” than minimum needed.
I have not not seen FAFSA but find it hard to believe that such critical information as parents’ assets are not requested on FAFSA.
You are asked to provide all your non-retirement account information as it is current on the day you file the FAFSA. You sign that you are providing correct information. I’d guess she did not fill out the FAFSA as this is definitely not correct.
You can tell your friend that if she is required by the FAFSA guidelines to provide her non-retirement account assets, and doesn’t…and her kid gets need based aid based on this dishonest information…this is considered fraud…which is a crime. The student risks losing not only their aid, but also their admitted student status. The re can be a fine as well.
And yes…there is a line on the FAFSA for assets to be listed. And the directions for that are very clear.
I personally don’t know how she filled the FAFSA and I did not see FAFSA myself so she might have just omitted assets and not provided $0 when asked. In this case I assume if colleges he daughter applied to did not ask for assets they probably did not need them.
She also mentioned interesting detail, not directly applicable to us. She said when filing FAFSA she only needed to provide income tax and other info for custodial parent (mother) and nothing for non-custodial parent (father).
The FAFSA only requires financials from the custodial parent if the parents are divorced or legally separated. She is absolutely correct about that.
She would also need to include any spousal or child support she received in the tax year for the FAFSA she completed. I don’t believe child support appears on her tax form either.
If her income is below $49,999, it’s possible the kid qualified for the simplified needs test. If that is the case, assets are not reported.
BUT if she put $0 when she actually HAD assets, that is dishonest.
Maybe she qualified for simplified needs test.
I’d let this go, if I were you. Do,what’s right for,yourself.
Closing thread. If the OP’s friend wants assistance on filling out, she can ask it here. Speculating about what she did/sis not do is pointless, and borders on invasion of privacy.