<p>I recently borrowed the book Paying for College Without Going Broke, 2007 edition from the library, and now I want to changed my parents' marital status from married to separated.</p>
<p>My parents have lived separately for over twenty years. While they are not legally separated (they are legally married), they are technically separated. According to the book, for financial aid purposes, there is absolutely no difference between legally separated and just separated. If my parents are not legally separatd, I might be asked to provide documentation to show that I no longer live together.</p>
<p>When I filed the FAFSA, I said that my parents were married, and I did not have my father (who lives overseas) file the Non-Custodial Profile, because I thought that wasn't necessary.</p>
<p>Now I want to change the status from married to separated, in order to (1) get more money and (2) to more accurately reflect my parents' real marital status.</p>
<p>The only concern I have about doing this is that the colleges might get suspicious. They might ask me, "Why didn't you tell us before, if it's so obvious?" I think I should respond that saying that my parents are separated is more accurate than saying that they're married.</p>
<p>I'm also kind of worried that it's too late. If I do change the status to separated, should I have my dad fill out the Non-Custodial Profile? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. This can make a huge difference in changing the financial aid package.</p>
<p>Anyone???? Come on, 31 views and no responses? Look, this is really important that I receive more money. Come on, please. I really am desperate. Someone here has to know.</p>
<p>Since your school requires the CSS Profile, the income and assets of both parents will be considered available to pay for college. Changing the status from married to separated won't change that, and "separated" implies your parents are married until they're divorced. Remaining married for decades but living apart is uncommon in the U.S. and will send up red flags.</p>
<p>dntw8up: What do you mean when you say that remaining married for decades but living apart 'will send up red flags'? Is that a good thing or a bad thing?</p>
<p>3bm103: My mom does her tax returns in Seattle, and my dad has my mom do his tax returns in Seattle as well. That's because I guess he has a 'green card' and that way he can go back to America if he wants to. Something like that.</p>
<p>So, do you guys think it's okay to change it from married to separate? And should my dad complete the non-custodial CSS Profile?</p>
<p>I changed the marital status from married to separated.
Previously I accidentally indicated that I was going to do part-time, and now I changed it to full-time. Guess what happened?</p>
<p>My EFC went UP. This is weird. I don't exactly know what happened. I know that my parents are expected to pay more, but doesn't the fact that my parents are now separated have any impact at all?</p>
<ul>
<li><p>There are 3 Worksheets on the FAFSA. Worksheet B has the money from the foreign income exclusion--that's the same as my dad's income.</p></li>
<li><p>But when they asked for father's 2007 income earned from work, I put $0, because otherwise I would not be able to say that my parents are separated.</p></li>
<li><p>I changed the number of people in the household from 4 to 3 for this reason:</p></li>
</ul>
<p>I am not sure whether to include my brother as someone in my household. My brother lives with my mom and me, but he makes a lot of money on his own. Since my mom does provide my brother with a home, but she doesn't provide more than 50% of his financial support. For that reason I didn't count him as a person in the household. That's why it's 3 and not 4. I wonder if that was a mistake.</p>
<p>Also, I changed the student's number of family members from 4 to 1 (just me). I thought that this was the same as parent's number of family members, but I guess it's not.</p>
<p>Could be several things or a combination of several things.</p>
<ol>
<li>Asset protection. Is less for a single parent than a couple. Is also less for a younger parent. As a for instance - my husband is 66 and the protected assets for us as a couple are @ $75k. I am 55 and the protected asset allowance for just me would be $22k. (yikes - I'd better force him onto the treadmill tomorrow!!).</li>
<li>Income protection. Is less for a family of 2 with one in college than a family of 3 with 1 in college. (@ $15k versus @ $19k.)</li>
</ol>
<p>But unless your dad's income and assets are very low I would have expected the EFC to go up once they were removed from the equation.</p>
<p>I don't think the EFC actually changes if you change from part to full time - but the amount of certain aid you are eligible for changes. For instance if you were eligible for the Pell grant you would only get half what you are eligible for half time enrolment vs full time.</p>
<p>I don't understand why the expected family contribution would go up when he's removed from the equation. (Worksheet B still has his foreign income exclusion). Since my dad is separated, wouldn't the expected family contribution be much lower? My dad's income isn't very low, but it isn't very high either.</p>
<p>
[quote]
My brother lives with my mom and me, but he makes a lot of money on his own. Since my mom does provide my brother with a home, but she doesn't provide more than 50% of his financial support. For that reason I didn't count him as a person in the household.
[/quote]
Would your brother be considered a dependent for financial aid purposes? For instance is he under 24 (at the end of this year), unmarried, not a veteran etc. If he would be considered a dependent for FAFSA he can be included as a member of the household. </p>
<p>
[quote]
Also, I changed the student's number of family members from 4 to 1 (just me). I thought that this was the same as parent's number of family members, but I guess it's not.
[/quote]
As you are a dependent student (I am assuming) this should make no difference. In fact I am surprised you were asked it - I don't recall that question being asked once the FAFSA questions established my daughter was a dependent student.</p>
<h1>66 should be 1 for your mother plus 1 for you. Do not include your brother if she doesn't provide more than 50% suport. Does she claim him as an exemption? How old is he?</h1>
<p>add in any other siblings your mother does support.</p>
<h1>67 should be 1 for you (unless you have a sibling in college</h1>
<h1>81 # of exemption your mother claims on her taxes. 1 for you and 1 for her (any other siblings besides that working brother)</h1>
<h1>90 - number of family members should be 0 since you are not an independent student.</h1>
<p>who makes the foreign income, your mother or your father? you don't report your father's foreign income</p>
<p>SCM, you fast typer, I think we answered the same questions. Although you did a better job with the question of dependency for the brother and if he should count :-)</p>
<p>Okay, so I said that my parents are separated. Now, on Worksheet B I DID state my father's foreign income exclusion. So the total on Worksheet B is $55,000. Was that a mistake? </p>
<p>By the way, I really, really appreciate your help. Thank you so much.</p>
<p>According to the FAFSA instructions, when I list the number of people in my family's household, I'm supposed to include both parents, even if they live apart. In fact, on the worksheet that's supposed to help find the total number of family members, 1 dad and 1 mom were already included; I couldn't do anything about it.</p>
<p>Hm, you might be right. According to the CollegeBoard Guide to Getting Financial Aid 2007, "If your parents are divorced or separated, answer the questions about the parent you lived with the most during the past 12 months."</p>
<p>So I guess I just completely ignore my dad's income?</p>