I am trying to fill out the FAFSA form for my daughter’s college… It is asking for my husband’s income (who is the stepparent). I am confused as to why it asks for his income, simply because when child support is set for his children (from previous marriage) it doesn’t allow him to list his support for his stepchildren. They stated that they are not his children biologically and he cannot claim them when calculating support. Is that correct?? Or do I just put in my income since I am the biological parent?
You must report the incomes of both you and your husband because he is part of the household You mus also report any child support that you receive
Household income is important to consider. If the parent had a fairly low income, for example, the school would think that it was a huge struggle to provide a home and pay for college. But adding a spouse to the equation (even a stepparent) means that there is a second income helping to pay household expenses. This would in theory make college tuition at least in part more affordable.
^^^
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If only your income was included, then it would look like your income was paying ALL the rent/mortgage, utillities, food, etc. It would look like your income is paying for everything and therefore it would look like you can’t pay much for college.
But, that wouldn’t be true, correct?
Your H’s income is paying for probably half or more of the household costs (unless his income is insignificant), so that means that you (the bio parent) can contribute more to your child’s income.
Imagine a situation where you earned very little, but your H earned a LOT and he paid all the household bills. If only your income were included, it would look like every dime of your income was putting a roof over your heads.
The formula is right to income both incomes otherwise it could appear that your income can barely support the household.
If FAFSA started only using the bio parents’ incomes, then it would likely then insist on including the ex-spouses’s income (if alive).
@queenbee67 in the fafsa completion guide, #73 asks for number of children being supported (more than half) by the “parents” whose income is supplied. So it may be that while child support is not deducted, you can list his children here even though they don’t live there. Then it becomes a part of the calc where they remove an amount for support of household.
^^ Good point.
Queenbee…does your husband provide “more than half” of the support for his children? That may hard to do unless his support payments are substantial. Many parents these days have a 50/50 support agreement.