How to fill out the FAFSA if your parents were never married

Filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) can be complicated and take a long time, especially if your answers to questions are more complicated. The FAFSA uses your parents’ and your financial information to determine how much financial aid you qualify for in college. But if your parents were never married, the process may be a bit different from if they were married or even divorced.

How to fill out the FAFSA if your parents were never married

If your parents never married, how you fill out the FAFSA depends on whether they’re still living together:

• In Step Four, state your parent’s marital status as “Single (never married),” if your parents do not live together and were never married.
• If your parents are not married but live together, state their marital status as “Unmarried and both legal parents living together.” In this case, list income and other financial information for both parents.
• If your parents are not living together, list income and other financial information for the parent who provided the most financial support in the last 12 months.
• If they both provided equal support in the last 12 months, list the parent with greater income and assets.
• If your parents are not living together, make sure to include any child support payments or financial support, such as allowance, from your second parent.

How to fill out the FAFSA if your parents never married each other but married others

If your parents are married but not to each other — and never have been — you’ll still report information only about either the parent you lived with the most in the past 12 months or the parent who provided more financial support in that same timeframe (or in the most recent year that you received support from one or both parents).

The difference, however, is that you’ll also include financial information for your custodial parent’s spouse or your stepparent. In this scenario, you’ll fill out the FAFSA as you normally would, using information about your custodial parent and their spouse. Their spouse’s (your stepparent) information will be included as a parent spouse, but not as a parent, unless the stepparent has adopted you.

Additional considerations:

• Be sure to include child support payments if your custodial parent receives them.
• When listing your parents’ education level, do this for only your biological or adoptive parents. It is not required to include this information about your stepparent unless they have adopted you.

Who is considered a parent on the FAFSA?

For the purposes of the FAFSA, parents are only considered parents if they’re biological or adoptive parents or if the state has determined them to be the child’s parent. Other caretakers, including grandparents, foster parents, legal guardians, older brothers or sisters, widowed stepparents, aunts and uncles and anyone else who might provide for the student are not considered parents for the FAFSA unless they’ve legally adopted the student.

If you have two parents but they were never married, both are considered your parent, you may need to include information from only one of them.

If you have any questions about the FAFSA or any additional requirements you may need to meet based on your situation, don’t hesitate to contact your school’s financial aid office. You may also consider asking your parents for help with the application process.

Bottom line

When filling out the FAFSA, it’s important to fill out all the parent financial information correctly, as this will guarantee you accurate financial aid information. If your parents were never married, use additional information to figure out how to add their information to your FAFSA. There is a difference between parents who are unmarried but live together and parents who are unmarried and separated.

Talk to a financial aid officer at your college or consult the Federal Student Aid website to make sure you apply correctly in nuanced situations. Doing so will help you make the most of your federal student aid, including federal student loans.