Originally posted by robe25
I am getting married on June 7. My wife-to-be and I are both dirt poor. I am thinking that it is better (from a financial aid standpoint) to be poor and married than poor and single. How should I file my fafsa? I talked to a financial aid person (didn't seem to know a whole lot) who said that I should just fill out the fafsa as soon as possible and I could fill it out as married next year. Wouldn't I be better off to wait until late June to submit it? Is there any way to make changes to your status once the form is submitted? Does it even make a difference? Has anyone out there been through this same situation? thanks.
First of all, congratulations.
From a tax standpoint, single people get a better standard deduction than married people. Single people get ~$4700 as their standard deduction, while married couples filing jointly get ~$7500 as a standard deduction, so each person loses ~$450 in deductions. It's called a 'marriage penalty' for good reason.
Since you are not yet married, you don't file your tax forms as married for last year.
You fill out the FAFSA with your status right now - which is single. When I filed my FAFSA, I had to enter both my and my wife's income, since we filed jointly. I have a feeling that this would explain my laughable $26,000 EFC calculated by FAFSA.
My advice: file your FAFSA now. Do not wait to file later when you are married. Most schools will not adjust your financial aid to up to support your spouse, unless you have a child, and need extra money in the financial aid package to cover the cost of child care while the spouse not in school works.
- Tae
