<p>ok last year i applied for fafsa and i said that my parents were married and gave both of their tax reports, and they didnt give me squat. well, long story short, im applying for colleges again this year, but i just found out that my parents arent legally married (?!), so if i file the fafsa again this year, saying that they arent married, will i be at risk of fraud, even though its the truth?</p>
<p>You might be questioned. That can happen anyways. Most students go through a "verification" process. If your parents are not legally married and there are no common law marriage rules in your state, you are now stating the truth. You were mistaken before.</p>
<p>Common law marriage is considered as good as legal for FAFSA purposes. If your state recognizes common law marriage, you will still have to say that your parents are married. </p>
<p>You did not know that your parents weren't married when you filed the FAFSA last year. If anyone were to get in trouble, it would be your parents ... not you. Just make sure your family files properly from now on. Check the laws of your state about common law marriage.</p>
<p>since the question of common law marriage has come up several times recently, I thought I would post info about it -- not many states recognize it:</p>
<p>"Currently, only 9 states (Alabama, Colorado, Kansas, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Iowa, Montana, Oklahoma, and Texas) and the District of Columbia recognize common-law marriages contracted within their borders. In addition, five states have "grandfathered" common law marriage (Georgia, Idaho, Ohio, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania) allowing those established before a certain date to be recognized. New Hampshire recognizes common law marriage only for purposes of probate, and Utah recognizes common law marriages only if they have been validated by a court or administrative order."</p>
<p>I don't see how you gave both your parents tax reports claiming they were married if they weren't. If they were not married, they had to have filed as Single. If they were married they either filed as married filing joint, or as married filing seperate.</p>
<p>I don’t know how it works in Colorado but, in Texas the only way to get common-law married is if you file jointly in your taxes (Texas doesn’t have state income tax). So yeah non-married people can file as married and in some states this is how they become common-law married.</p>
<p>The choices on FAFSA are married or divorced. It doesn’t say anything about “Never Married,” though the College Board’s CSS does have that as a choice. It seems to me (and I AM NO FA EXPERT!) that you can just check the divorced box, because that is what the FAFSA folks would recommend that you do. Couples get divorced all the time! For FAFSA, you just have to include the income of the parent you lived with most of the time, and/or the one who provided most of your support. Even if both parents live in the same house, if they were never legally married, you would just include the higher income.</p>
<p>franglish, there is an unmarried option on the FAFSA. Since the parents were never married, listing divorced would be an actual lie.</p>
<p>Absolutely right! Sorry about the mis-information. I guess the OP could just put down “Single” and it would be correct.</p>
<p>For FAFSA purposes, I would use what is on their tax form. If they file as Single, then for FASFA purposes, they are single. If they file Married Filing Separately, then they are Married. Your parents have a reason for their choice (and are subject to federal penalties if they are wrong), and you have no duty to grill them.</p>
<p>Note: Where they live now may not have a bearing on whether they are married now or not. If they ever lived in a common law state, they might have qualified as married there. Then, once married, they are considered married until they get a divorce.</p>
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<p>“Fraud” requires an intent to deceive, or failure to take reasonable steps to know the truth. In your case, you had a reason to believe what you put down last year was the truth, so there is no “fraud”. Also, since you did not receive any aid - No harm, no foul.</p>
<p>If they ask about the change in status from last year, then just tell them the truth (you didn’t know last year), and that should be the end of it.</p>
<p>Upon further reflection, …</p>
<p>Since one of your parents also signed the FAFSA, s/he could be exposed to a fraud charge (s/he would be in a position to know about the correct answer to the question). However, since you did not receive financial aid, no harm was done, so no damage to undo.</p>
<p>I’m guessing she’s resolved her issue since the original post last September, but a good thing for students to be aware of…ask your parents to COMPLETELY review their portion of FAFSA for accuracy, 'cuz you just never know what might not have been discussed around the dinner table!</p>