FAFSA 2024-2025 question: Parents recently married but only dad filed taxes in 2022

This is actually a common scenario! Since your parents are currently married (regardless of when the marriage happened), both need to be reported on your FAFSA. For your mom, you'll select "Will not file" for her tax filing status. The system will then ask you to report any income she had in 2022 - which sounds like it would be zero in your case. This won't flag your application as long as you're consistent with what you report. The system is designed to handle non-filing parents. Just make sure your dad's information is entered accurately since he's the only one with tax documents.

omg i had almost this EXACT same situation last year except it was my dad who didnt work! its super confusing right?? but yea just put that ur mom didnt file and put 0 for her income. they might ask for verification later but thats normal dont freak out about it

The FAFSA system is so broken. They want all this complicated info about different family situations but then make the form impossible to navigate for anything that doesn't fit their perfect nuclear family model. And good luck getting any help from them directly!!! I spent 3 WEEKS trying to reach someone at Federal Student Aid last month when I had a similar issue. Kept getting disconnected or waiting for hours. The whole system needs to be rebuilt from scratch IMO.

Let me clarify a technical point here that might help: When your dad claimed your mom as a dependent on his 2022 taxes, that was for IRS purposes. For FAFSA purposes, now that they're married, they're considered a household unit regardless of their tax filing status in the base year. You should: 1. Enter your dad's information as "Already completed" for tax filing status 2. Enter your mom's information as "Will not file" 3. Enter $0 for your mom's income if she truly had no income 4. Answer "No" if asked if your mom filed a Schedule 1 This is factually accurate and won't cause problems. The SAI calculation will be based primarily on your dad's income since your mom had none. About 30% of FAFSA filers get selected for verification randomly, so if that happens, don't panic - you'd just need to provide documentation showing your mom didn't have income requiring filing.

quick question - did your mom have ANY income at all in 2022? Even if it was below the filing threshold? Because you still have to report that on FAFSA even if she didn't file taxes. Like if she had a part-time job for a bit or got unemployment or something, you need to put that number in.

I had this exact same issue last month and spent DAYS trying to reach someone at Federal Student Aid. After getting disconnected 6 times, I found this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that helps you reach a real person at FSA without the wait. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ The agent I talked to confirmed what others here are saying - you just mark your mom as "Will not file" and enter zeros for her income. The agent also put notes on my account explaining the situation which helped prevent verification flags. Saved me so much stress!

They didn't ask me for additional documentation right away, but they did mention I might need to provide a "Verification of Non-Filing Letter" from the IRS if I get selected for verification. The agent said about 30% of applications get selected randomly, but they can help walk you through it if that happens. The most important thing is to be consistent with your answers.

Wait so are ur parents married now or not? cuz if theyre married now u have to include both but if they got married AFTER 2022 then u might not have to? im confused lol

One more thing to keep in mind: When you submit your FAFSA this way, your calculated SAI (Student Aid Index, formerly EFC) will be based primarily on your dad's income since your mom had none. This is exactly how the system is designed to work, so don't worry that you're doing anything wrong. The main thing is to be truthful about your current family situation (parents are married) and the 2022 financial information (only dad filed taxes, mom had no income).

I just went through something very similar! My parents got married in late 2022, but my mom hadn't worked or filed taxes that year either. What really helped me was keeping all the documentation organized from the start. Make sure you save screenshots of each page as you complete the FAFSA showing your mom's "Will not file" status and $0 income entries. Also, if your dad's tax return shows your mom as a dependent, keep a copy of that handy too - it actually supports your story if questions come up later. The whole process felt overwhelming at first, but once I submitted it, everything went smoothly. Your school's financial aid office can also be super helpful if you run into any roadblocks - they deal with these situations all the time!