johnnyham89

I was figuring some things out and I came across this. If I were to live on campus just for school year and not the summer because they don't allow that, would my dad still be able to claim me on his income tax as living in his house? Im just wondering because I don't want to not be eligible for some grants like the pell. Also my dad has inherited some money from my grandpa about 30k and was wondering if when he takes the money will that have a large effect on my eligibility for the same grants? He would probably be taking about 10k a year so it wont be such a huge hit. thanks guys

franglish

Of course he would. You will be a full-time student who is still your dad's dependent. Even if you lived somewhere else for the summers and rarely came home, it doesn't make you not a member of his household. If you were not a student any longer, it would be different.

The inheritance might make a difference. I should think it would count as an asset. But I don't know. What exactly do you mean that "he would probably be taking about 10k a year?" Either he inherited the money, or he didn't. I would suggest you can research those questions on financial aid web sites that deal with pell grants and the like.

johnnyham89

Thanks for your response. And about the 10k thing. He has a choice to take it all in one year or to split it up over 3 years.

somemom

johnny, you might run your numbers through the FAFSA formula and see how the inheritance makes the difference, it depends on other factors too. You may be better off long term for him to take the entire amount, give up grants for that one year, use the money in year one to pay down his mortgage, etc and then it won't count for other years