So I am a college junior and haven’t gotten any help from student aid due to my step dads income. My mother recently divorced him in June 2017 and with her disability income alone the household income would be low enough to receive help. So I am wondering if I will be able to use just her income In the next fafsa spring semester? Will the taxes be updated by then or will I need to wait until spring.
If you filed your 2017/18 FAFSA before you mom got divorced, and used their combined income on the FAFSA, contact your college and see if they can still take that into consideration for this school year.
You put your mom’s marital status on the FAFSA as of the day you file it. So if your mom is divorced now and you file the 2018/19 for next year now, you would report only her 2016 income on that FAFSA.
You can also ask them for special circumstance review to consider your mom’s lower disability income in 2017.
The FAFSA you completed was the 2017-2018 one for the CURRENT school year. Right? That one covers the spring semester. You don’t do a new FAFSA for spring semester.
But…you have a change in circumstances…so go and talk to the financial aid office at your school. See what their process is for a special circumstances consideration.
You WILL do a 2018-2019 fafsa for your senior year…and as noted…you will need to use ONLY your mom’s 2016 income…and her assets. You won’t be able to use the IRS DRT…assuming they filed a joint return in 2016. That being the case, make sure you also order a tax transcript and have good documentation of your mom’s share of the income. You will likely be selected for verification.