<p>I have a question on behalf of my fiance. Currently, she is a student who has received a significant amount of financial aid filing the aid application as Single. According to IRS, once we marry, she is eligible to file as Head of Household, with 1 dependent child. As Head of Household, will her financial aid consider my income as well? Will the amount of aid she receives be significantly affected by her new status (Head of Household versus Single)? IF yes, then we'll just wait a couple of months to get married (after she applies). Again, we're married, in out taxes she's filing Head of Household and I'm filing Married Filing Separately. As you may know, the IRS could not answer my question as Financial Aid is separate from the work they do. Thank you in advance.</p>
<p>Tax filing status is not directly linked to FAFSA filing status. Once you are married your income will be added to hers for FAFSA purposes. </p>
<p>"The FAFSA cannot be updated for mid-year changes in an applicant’s marital status. If the student expects to be married in the near future, they should carefully consider whether to submit the FAFSA before or after they are married. What matters is the date the FAFSA was completed, not the date it was signed or processed. (The signatures on the FAFSA or signature sheet attests to the accuracy of the information on the FAFSA as of the date the form was completed, not the date the form was signed.)
For example, suppose an unmarried student submits the FAFSA online on Friday with a marital status of “married”, anticipating her wedding that weekend, gets married on Sunday, and signs and mails the signature sheet on Monday. For federal student aid purposes she will be considered unmarried because she was not married on the date the FAFSA was completed. Likewise if the student initially completes the FAFSA as single and changes it online to married before signing and mailing the signature sheet. Corrections are only permitted when the marital status on the date the FAFSA was completed was inaccurate, not when the marital status changed after that date.</p>
<p>If there is any question as to whether the applicant was married, the school will ask for a copy of the marriage certificate and compare the date on the certificate with the application date on the SAR/ISIR."</p>
<p>???</p>
<p>In one sentence you call her a fiancee…in another you say that you’re married.</p>
<p>It does NOT matter HOW you file your taxes. IF you’re married then she HAS to use YOUR income and HER income on FAFSA.</p>
<p>Are you bringing a child into the marriage or does your fiancee already have one? Or, are you a minor that your fiancee will somehow consider a dependent to gain Head of Household status?</p>
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<p>Where do you get the tax information?</p>
<p>Most married couple file married tax returns either jointly or seperately.</p>
<p>The filing status of Head of Household is available to a married person only if
1.You file a separate return.
2.You paid more than half the cost of keeping up your home for the tax year.
3.Your spouse did not live in your home during the last 6 months of the tax year. Your spouse is considered to live in your home even if he or she is temporarily absent due to special circumstances, school, work, or illness etc.
4.Your home was the main home of your child, stepchild, or eligible foster child for more than half the year.
5.You must be able to claim an exemption for the child. However, you meet this test if you cannot claim the exemption only because the noncustodial parent can claim the child using the rules for children of divorced or separated parents.</p>
<p>See
[Publication</a> 504 (2011), Divorced or Separated Individuals](<a href=“http://www.irs.gov/publications/p504/index.html]Publication”>http://www.irs.gov/publications/p504/index.html)</p>
<p>Once you get married she only has 2 filing options; married filing separately and married filing jointly. Married persons cannot file head of household. </p>
<p>Once you are married your income and assets will be considered for her receiving financial aid</p>
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Yes, a married person may file as Head of Household in very specific situtions.</p>
<p>However, I don’t think OP or his wife could file as Head of Household.</p>
<p>It really doesn’t matter HOW the OP and his WIFE file taxes. If they are married, both incomes and assets MUST appear on the FAFSA form.</p>
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However, his wife would file FAFSA as independent student.</p>
<p>If you are married as of the date of filing FAFSA, you are required to report the income and assets of both the student and the spouse. For FAFSA, it makes no difference if you file taxes separately. </p>
<p>Filing as married but filing separately will also make her ineligible for the education tax credits such as the American Opportunity tax credit. It is fairly unlikely she will be able to file as HOH once she marries (depending on the timing of the wedding).</p>
<p>Yes, once married, the wife would be considered an independent student. BUT that was not the OP’s question. He wanted to know if HIS income would be included, and the answer to that is YES. And it does not matter how they file their taxes.</p>
<p>Yes, your income would be included once you are are married. That often figures into marriage plans when either or both parties are on financial aid or other programs. I suggest you run some numbers and see what the effect is so that you can plan accordingly. A FAFSA EFC estimator would be the way to go.</p>
<p>cpt…welcome back!!..wouldn’t the net price calculator on the college website be more accurate than the fafsa efc estimator…or is that what you meant?</p>
<p>I would look at both. THe NPC, depending on the school, comes up with some strange numbers, often taking into account average scholarships and awards, I’ve noticed, when playing around with some of them. For someone looking for averages, while applying, it’s one thing. When you are in already and getting a certain amount of money from the school, it’s a whole other. </p>
<p>It also depends on the type of aid the spouse is getting. If she is currently PELL and state aid eligible, say in my state, getting married could be a real problem as it would wipe out a significant amount of aid for just a small bump in income, like possibly all of it. The OP should go over the application and see what the differences are in terms of aid. It could make a significant difference.</p>
<p>My husbands income had to be given when I filed the Fafsa, and because of that I was not eligible for any need-based financial aid even though I was unemployed for 2 years at the time I started going to local community college. I asked Fafsa customer service via email if I could file taxes separately to use only my income and was told it would not matter how I filed taxes-his income has to be reported when I filed.</p>