Do you have a minister, priest, or rabbi or doctor or someone who can vouch for the fact that your dad has not been in your life?
Is this a CSS Profile school??
Mom2… See post 7. This is University of Massachusetts.
I spoke to the financial aid office again and the woman said to just send in a copy of the rental agreement, and utility bills first. She said I may or may not be requested for anymore information, If I do I will probably ask my doctor because I don’t know anyone of legal standing like a lawyer to vouch for me.
You can get the letter from your guidance counselor; they write them all of the time
?
Even if the OP had contact with the NCP, why is the school asking for this info if this is a Fafsa only school?
@sybbie719 I am a transfer student, my college adviser doesn’t know me well enough to write it.
@mom2collegekids I suppose it is just to verify that my mom is the only income that contributes to our household because anyone can lie about that.
Fallenwinter…you need someone very familiar with your situation to verify that you have no contact with your NCP parent. This could be a clergyman, a doctor, ask your mom who has sufficient long term knowledge to be able to document the lack of contact with your dad.
It doesn’t need to be someone from your college. It can be someone from your hometown.
Are you still in touch with your high school counselor? They can write about the number of years that they have known you and your situation
<<<
I suppose it is just to verify that my mom is the only income that contributes to our household because anyone can lie about that.
[QUOTE=""]
[/QUOTE]
I guess so. But does this school do this for every separated or never-married parent?
Something seems weird. even if your dad was in touch with you, his info still would NOT go on FAFSA.
Are FAFSA schools now demanding to see where the NCP is living?
Mom2…if I were guessing…I would guess that they are requesting this information since the parent is not legally separated…but is actually still married. I asked about the tax filing status…and don’t believe I got an answer…but if married filing separately was used, this would also flag NCP info potentially,
The student did what he needed to do…contacted the school. He is asking for a waiver of his NCP info.
The school is just doing its due diligence since these parents are still married.
Mom filed HoH in Post 12.
Very often, married folks filing head of household sets off the verification trigger. Yes, this can be an allowable filing status under certain circumstances.
The custodial parent and student just need to document well the lack of contact with the NCP. This is what the school has asked for.
OP, did you say that your parents were married on the FAFSA? If so, that is the root cause of the problem. I have seen many students incorrectly say “married,” because they don’t realize they can say “separated” in their case. Once “married” is marked, and Head of Household is indicated as a filing status, verification will usually be triggered - and the aid office is required to resolve the conflicting information. The info the aid office requested in Post #22 is standard for this situation. I would request a written statement from the mother indicating that she is actually separated and that Married was incorrectly indicated as the marital status on the FAFSA - that the mom has been separated since (date), and that the head of household status is correct because the father did not live in the household in 2014. I would ask that both the mom & student sign the statement. The rental agreement and utility bill provide further documentation that it is just the mother in the home.
You will be fine. Just stay in touch with the aid office to make sure you are giving them what they want and need.
This web page seems to provide a good explanation of the issues.
http://www.finaid.org/fafsa/headofhousehold.phtml
No rosered, the student can indicate their parents separated on the FAFSA even if they are still legally married.
Ha ha, thank you, I wrote that and then deleted it after I found the explanation on the web page I posted above.
@kelsmom On the FAFSA I put that they were separated. But I guess since there is no legal document stating this made them suspicious as to why my mom checks off Head of Household? Just my guess. Should I still have my mom write a letter? Or should I just submit the rental agreement/utility bills first and see what happens next?
@mom2collegekids – there are a number of FAFSA-only schools that do ask for non-custodial data in some cases before awarding school grant aid. CSU Ft. Collins frequently requests the equivalent of an NCP for students with divorced/separated parents if the student’s family income is under a certain amount. Depending on how they crunch the numbers, some of those students will be awarded a top-up grant that adds enough to their Pell Grants to meet full tuition and fees. None of the supplemental information affects federal aid eligibility, but it is used for institutional purposes even though the college does not generally use either Profile or NCP. It isn’t required of all students, only of the students the college specifically asks.
Update:
I have mailed in the documents requested (rental agreement, utilities, etc) and as expected, I was still requested to send in my NCP rental agreement, utilities, and W2s and a legal separation document. I was told that I could have my mom write a letter stating they are separated and living apart and get it notarized by a notary so I will do that. But I’m not sure how to write this letter. What do I say? Just “my parents are separated The End”? I’m a little lost and my mom’s written English is not well enough for her to do it herself.
Thanks in advance
You need to state the facts as you/your mom know them.
1- date of the marriage, where they were married (county and state), where they lived together when married and for how long.
2- date of separation, and where they each have lived since then.
3- Your mom’s current legal name (this is what the notary is for- just to certify that the person who presents the letter has shown/verified that she is the actual person being named i.e. matches up with her driver’s license or other document.)
Google around and you can probably find a template. But make sure you include this information at a minimum.