FAFSA confusion: Do both parents need separate accounts when filing taxes jointly?

This happened to me last year! The FAFSA system is so frustrating. I think those emails are automated and don't actually reflect what the system needs. Since your husband already listed you as a spouse and completed his portion with your joint tax info, you shouldn't need to do anything else. The emails are probably just glitching because the system sees two parents but only one has an account. I ignored them and everything processed fine for my daughter's aid package.

Unfortunately, the new FAFSA system (2024-2025) DOES require both parents to have separate accounts if you're both contributing to the student's education, even if you file taxes jointly. Each parent needs their own FSA ID and must complete their section separately. This is part of the FAFSA Simplification Act changes. Your husband adding you as a spouse doesn't complete your required contributor section. I'd recommend creating your own account ASAP and completing your portion to avoid delays in your children's aid calculation.

The EXACT same thing happened to me! Those emails are super confusing. Here's what worked for me: I created my own separate FSA ID account, but when I logged in and entered my children's information, it showed that my portion was already complete because my husband had entered our joint tax information. The system recognized we filed jointly and didn't ask for duplicate info. But I did need my own account to formally "confirm" everything. It's stupid but just create your account and see what happens when you log in.

ya this is a common problem with the new FAFSA. basicly what happens is the student has to specificly invite BOTH parents as contributors even if u file jointly. check with ur kids if they only sent the invitation to ur husband. if thats what happened, they need to log in and add u as a contributor too then you'll get a invitation email with instructions for making ur FSA ID account. its stupid but thats how it works now

Everyone here is giving different advice because the FAFSA system is incredibly confusing this year with all the changes. After dealing with this exact issue and spending hours on hold with Federal Student Aid, I can confirm that BOTH parents in a married-filing-jointly household DO need separate FSA ID accounts AND both need to be invited as contributors by the student. Even though you file taxes jointly, each parent must individually consent to the IRS data retrieval. I was stuck in the same frustrating loop trying to reach someone at Federal Student Aid to clarify this. If you're having trouble getting through on their phone lines, I found a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that helped me actually reach a human at FSA without waiting for hours. They have a video demo showing how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ Once I finally spoke with someone, they confirmed each parent needs their own account. The good news is you won't need to re-enter all the tax information if your husband already did that part.

To clear up some confusion in this thread: The requirement for both parents varies depending on your specific situation. If you're married filing jointly AND you both live in the same household, then technically only one parent needs to complete the FAFSA. However, the system often sends automated emails to both parents regardless. What's likely happening is that your children may have sent contributor invitations to both you and your husband, which is triggering the emails. Since your husband has already entered your joint tax information, you *should* be fine without creating a separate account. However, if you want to be absolutely certain, creating your own FSA ID and checking if there's anything pending for you to complete is the safest approach. When you log in, the system should recognize that your joint tax information has already been submitted and may just ask you to confirm some personal identification details.

these emails are so ANNOYING!!!! i got them for weeks after my husband did the fafsa stuff for our son. i never made an account and my son got his financial aid package already so clearly it wasn't needed. the whole system is a mess this year i think their just sending emails to everyone hoping someone responds lol

After reading all these responses, it seems like the safest approach is: 1. Have your students send contributor invitations to both parents 2. Create your own FSA ID account 3. Log in and see if it asks for any additional information Even if it's redundant, at least you'll know you've covered all your bases. The FAFSA changes this year have been so confusing for everyone!

Glad you got it sorted out! This thread is going to be so helpful for other parents dealing with the same confusion. The new FAFSA system really needs clearer communication about when both parents need accounts versus when one is sufficient. Your experience shows that creating the second account and going through the verification process is usually pretty quick once you have the contributor invitation. Thanks for sharing the update - it gives the rest of us confidence that even when the system seems broken, there's usually a straightforward solution!

As someone who just went through this exact same nightmare last month, I can confirm what others have said - you'll likely need both accounts even though it seems redundant! The key thing that helped me was realizing that the student needs to send separate contributor invitations to each parent. Once I got my invitation and created my FSA ID, the process was actually pretty smooth. The system recognized our joint tax filing and I just had to verify my identity and electronically sign. The whole thing took maybe 15 minutes once I had the proper invitation. Don't stress too much - it sounds way more complicated than it actually is once you get started!