FAFSA household size question - do I include elderly mother who isn't tax dependent?
I just submitted my FAFSA for my son's sophomore year and realized I might have messed up the household size. My elderly mother (75) has been living with us for the past 8 months since her health declined, but we DON'T claim her as a dependent on our taxes. I didn't include her in our household count on the FAFSA. Did I complete this correctly or should I go back and add her? I'm worried this might affect my son's financial aid package if I reported the wrong household size. Has anyone dealt with this situation before?
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Victoria Stark
pretty sure you only count ppl who you actually claim as dependents on taxes, so ur prob fine
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Hassan Khoury
•That's what I thought too, but the wording on the FAFSA confused me because it asks about who lives in your household that you support, not just tax dependents. Thanks for your input though!
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Benjamin Kim
The FAFSA household definition is actually different from tax dependency. Per the rules, your household size includes: 1. You (the parent) 2. Your spouse if married 3. Your children (even if they don't live with you) IF you provide more than 50% of their support 4. Other people who live with you AND receive more than 50% of their support from you The key question for your mother is: do you provide more than half her support? If yes (even if not a tax dependent), she should be included. If no (she has her own income, social security, etc. covering most of her needs), then you were correct to exclude her.
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Hassan Khoury
•Oh wow, that's super helpful! She gets Social Security and has some retirement savings that cover about 70% of her expenses. We help with the rest but definitely not more than half. So it sounds like I was correct to exclude her. Thank you for explaining this so clearly!
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Samantha Howard
My mom moved in with us too! But we DO claim her on taxes so I included her. FAFSA is so confusing sometimes!!
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Megan D'Acosta
I work at a financial aid office, and this is actually one of our most common questions. The "more than 50% support" rule is the key factor, regardless of tax dependency status. Support includes housing, food, medical, clothing, etc. One thing to consider: if your contribution to her housing, food, and other needs (even if you don't directly pay her bills) might actually add up to more than 50% of her total support when you calculate it all, you might need to include her. If you're unsure, I recommend doing a correction and calling the Federal Student Aid office to get specific guidance for your situation. Unfortunately, their phone lines are often jammed.
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Sarah Ali
•I've had that same problem trying to call FSA. Waited for HOURS last month for a dependency override question. Finally I used Claimyr (claimyr.com) to get through. They have this service that calls and waits on hold for you and then connects you when a real person answers. Saved me so much time! They have a video showing how it works here: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ. Totally worth it for FAFSA issues when you're stuck.
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Ryan Vasquez
FAFSA IS DELIBERATELY CONFUSING!!! They want us to make mistakes so they can deny aid or delay processing!!! I made the SAME EXACT ERROR last year but in reverse - I INCLUDED someone I shouldn't have and my daughter's SAI number shot up by like $4000!!! The system is RIGGED against middle class families!!!!!
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Benjamin Kim
•While the FAFSA form can definitely be confusing, the household size question is actually trying to accurately capture who you're financially supporting. Including or excluding someone incorrectly can impact your SAI calculation, but it's not designed to trip people up intentionally. The goal is to assess your family's financial capacity to contribute to education costs.
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Avery Saint
Wait I'm confused. So if my brother lives with us during college breaks but my parents don't claim him (he files his own taxes), does he count in household size??
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Megan D'Acosta
•It depends on whether your parents provide more than 50% of his total support for the year. If your brother is mostly self-supporting through work or has financial aid covering most of his expenses, then he wouldn't count. But if your parents pay for most of his education, housing, food, etc. (even when he's away at college), then he would count in their household size.
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Hassan Khoury
Just wanted to update - I called FSA this morning (used the Claimyr service that was suggested and got through in about 15 minutes!). The agent confirmed that since my mother's Social Security and retirement cover more than 50% of her expenses, I was correct NOT to include her in my household size. She suggested I keep documentation of how I calculated this in case of verification. Thanks everyone for your help!
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Benjamin Kim
•Great news! Documentation is definitely key for verification. Keep a simple spreadsheet showing her income sources and approximate support you provide. Glad you got it sorted out!
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Samantha Howard
•So glad you figured it out! FAFSA is such a headache lol
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Ezra Beard
This is such a helpful thread! I'm dealing with a similar situation with my grandfather who moved in with us last year. He has his pension and Social Security, but we cover some of his medical expenses and help with groceries. Reading through these responses, it sounds like I need to sit down and actually calculate what percentage of his total support we're providing. The 50% rule seems pretty clear once you understand it, but you're right that the FAFSA wording can be confusing at first glance.
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