Really?

[Blackcat31]

You must be referring to another government program. The one I'm referring to at the moment is FASFA guidelines for financial aid. Which depends on the household income. If "Jane" is married to "Joe" and Jane had 2 kids before marriage and her and Joe don't have any children together then his income wouldn't matter for certain government programs like food stamps.

Depends on the college and whether the college uses a standard federal methology or an instutional method or perhaps a combination of both.

My sister has 3 children and is married to the father of her youngest two. Her oldest is in college and although her step father has an excellent job his income wasn't considered in the financial aide my niece got.

So not sure if there are exceptions, special considerations or what but my sisters situation didn't work as you stated (all household income counts) so I can only speak from that experience.

[Unregistered]

Depends on the college and whether the college uses a standard federal methology or an instutional method or perhaps a combination of both.

My sister has 3 children and is married to the father of her youngest two. Her oldest is in college and although her step father has an excellent job his income wasn't considered in the financial aide my niece got.

So not sure if there are exceptions, special considerations or what but my sisters situation didn't work as you stated (all household income counts) so I can only speak from that experience.

....interesting

FAFSA is federally regulated and the application process that includes the questionaire is the same for everyone. There are no special paperwork handled by any college to fill out FAFSA. It must and can be only completed through the government website and you must enter information from your income tax to complete it. Then the information is sent to the college on one choice.

You can be either be a dependent of someone or independent when completing the FAFSA. When a child graduates high school and wants to attend college he or she needs his parent's income tax info to complete a FAFSA. If you're independent and can't remember your tax info there is an IRS link that automatically retrieves a person's information.

[hwichlaz]

My oldest qualified for FAFSA under just my income because I had physical custody. But the she moved in with her dad right before HS graduation and had to use his household income instead of mine and it sabotaged her.

[Unregistered]

My oldest qualified for FAFSA under just my income because I had physical custody. But the she moved in with her dad right before HS graduation and had to use his household income instead of mine and it sabotaged her.

She should have continued to use yours..its legal. As long as she lived with you more than 6 months.

[Unregistered]

....and listed as a dependent on your tax return

[hwichlaz]

She should have continued to use yours..its legal. As long as she lived with you more than 6 months.

She lived with him for second semester of junior year through graduation, and since she lived with him for more than six months it was his right to claim her.

[Mad_Pistachio]

Ok, I'll read the replies when I have my comp back. I'll just say that I don't want to disclose my husband's wage here, but it is more than 35K. And no, we can't afford college, my Mom pays for it, and if I go to University, I'll apply for a student loan to cover it. There you go, middle class at its best/worst.

[Unregistered]

In MN a live in boyfriend that is NOT the biological or adoptive father to the children does not count in the mother's income. He has NO financial obligation to financially support her or her children even if he is sleeping in her bed.

It would be no different than a single parent having a room mate that shares living expenses. The room mate has no financial obligation to anything other than their half the rent/utilities etc.... The room mates income has no bearing on the type or amount of assistance the single parent receives.

You are correct within most aspects of assistance. Section 8 housing however requires all adults and incomes to be listed on the application as well as their incomes. They had been in a long term relationship and yet she applied alone and mentioned on a few occasions that she was nervous to be busted by her landlord.

Also, she requested, and was granted refusal of raises at annual review time so that her income would not exceed benefit requirements. Just another exame of how it can be a disservice to a gal in the long term...

[Mad_Pistachio]

You can be either be a dependent of someone or independent when completing the FAFSA. When a child graduates high school and wants to attend college he or she needs his parent's income tax info to complete a FAFSA. If you're independent and can't remember your tax info there is an IRS link that automatically retrieves a person's information.

True. We file jointly (started when I applied for permanent residency to prove we have bona fide marriage... that's a whole different story), and his income is too big to get anything, even loose change. Obviously, FAFSA can see the joint income.

[hwichlaz]

I had a single mom with two kids come in crying. She got a raise at work, which bumped her a tax bracket. It meant that her $1 an hour raise was going to get her less than .25 cents an hour take home....and her subsidy was based on her gross income....so her copay was going up. So getting that raise actually cost her considerably. She ended up pulling her kids and having them bounced around from relative to relative during the day so she could make rent.

So....I can see why someone would decline a raise.