I have been separated from my husbamd of 17 years for the last year and received no support from him. I would like to go back to a vocational school so I can support myself. How do I fill out the FAFSA so that it shows only my income?
You file the FAFSA using your status of today. For school year 2017-2018 you will use your income from 2015.
If you are applying for school year 2016-2017 (with the intent to start in the spring semester) then you will use your income andassets from 2015
If you filed your 2015 taxes with your husband you will file the FAFSA using only your income. Any alimony/ spousal support and or child support must be included on the FAFSA.
You will not be able to use the IRS data retrieval tool. The school will let you know what you need to submit for verification purposes.
Have you already completed s degree ?
If yes, the only aid that may be available to you is loans.
Income only (not assets) from 2015; assets will be reported as of the day the FAFSA is completed.
I do not already have a degree. My husband filed taxes, without my permission, as married. I’m so mad! So, should just put down what I’ve been living on, which is social security and a small pension? I’m 65 years old and I really need to go to school so I can support myself!
It’s not unusual for still-married but separated folks to file as married. That won’t matter for your situation.
You need to report your income/pension whatever you’re living on.
^^But it’s not okay for the husband to sign his name and his wife’s name on the tax return or e-filing form.
How much can you get at full retirement age for social security?
Does the vocational school have FAFSA aid? What kind of certificate or degree are you planning to earn?
Actually…to the OP…can you collect more based on your husband’s SS than on your own? Check that too.
Or collect under husband’s while deferring her own SS to age 70. I believe hers increases 8% for each year deferred.
Is this the second husband? If so and she was married to a higher earning first husband for 10 years or more then she can look into claiming the spousal benefit under the first husband’s wage record after the second divorce is final.
Meet with a representative of your local SSA office to discuss.
@Madison85 absolutely! But I don’t know what recourse is really available. It could be mentioned in the divorce, maybe? But if the H always filed/signed for her, I doubt anything would happen. Many spouses file and “sign” for their spouses. It may not be “right”, but it’s one of those things many spouses do. In the old days, my mom signed my dad’s paycheck and deposited every week. She’d be in line with a bunch of other wives doing the same thing.
@thumper1 is right. If you were married for a certain amount of time (10 years??? Not sure the number), then you might qualify for a higher SS amount because of your H.
However, since her H isn’t paying any sort of support, I wonder if this was a short-term marriage.
It’s a 17 year marriage.
Is that long enough to get SS based on spouse?
Yes. You only have to be married for 10 years to collect on your spouse earnings.
But back to the question. You will complete the fafsa. You will indicate separated on it. You will use YOUR income from 2015…not any of your husband’s. You will use assets as of the day of filing the FAFSA.
How much does your vocational program cost? And how long is it?
If your husband has not been giving you any support, how have you been paying your bills? If your fafsa indicates NO income, you will likely be verified, and the school will rightfully want this question answered.
It doesn’t matter if he’s ‘always’ signed and filed, it is HER signature that is required for filing taxes. If she doesn’t want that filing, she can file her own (it would be Married filing separately) but it may not be a better tax position for her. You need to be careful what you wish for as you both could end up paying more.
If you want to leave things as they are with the IRS, then you would complete the FAFSA by breaking out any income of yours on that 2015 tax return, and reporting your assets as of the day you file the FAFSA.
We’re the taxes filed last April or before? Was the couple separated at the time taxes were filed?
Either way, there are often tax advantages to filing jointly, even when the couple is separated.
The OP seems to think that she’s at some disadvantage by the joint filing, and she’s not.
She MIGHT not be disadvantaged filing jointly, but she could be. If she was a low wage earner, she might have credits she could have taken (medical?), she might have received a refund for withholding. If her husband was a high wage earner, her personal exemption and credits may have been used to offset taxes he owed on his earnings.
I had this exact situation for clients. The wife was a W2 wage earner but the husband owned his own business. In this case, the wife would get a much bigger return from the IRS because it was all her wages used for the withholding, and she had a pretty small salary. Husband had not paid quarterly taxes because he knew the wife was doing withholding.
If there are dependent children (probably not in this case since OP said she is 65), there is the possibility of filing HOH rather than married filing single. There might be medical costs that can be claimed on a low income filer but not if they file jointly. There are reasons why married people do file separately.
@twoinanddone I was talking about being disadvantaged for filling out FAFSA. She won’t be hurt.
As for the things you mentioned, if she was disadvantaged, that should have been addressed in early 2016 when their taxes were filed.
Not much opportunity to “address” things if the husband decides on his own that he’s going to file MFJ, and does that before the wife has any idea what’s going on.