Already filed FAFSA, then discovered UGMA account: How to deal with it?

[redclay]

What you could do to lessen the financial aid hit is to move the funds to a UGMA/custodial 529 account which would be legally owned by the child/student but would be reported on FAFSA as a parent asset, and might be considered a parent asset on CSS/Profile, depending on each Profile school’s own FA policy.

That’s what I was describing, very badly. I misunderstood that it would be parent-owned because I’d read it would be reported as a parent assent (and wrongly assumed it could just as easily be transferred to grandparents). Thank you for the clarification!

With different investment vehicles and different timing, it will be next to impossible to provide an equal amount to each child, but you can probably get close.

Close is perfectly fine. Some may ultimately need more than others in any case.

You should make any needed changes to FAFSA and Profile ASAP, but realize that these changes will probably delay accurate need-based FA offers from schools that are providing them. If making a school choice depends in part on FA offers, this might be a problem.

Yes, I understand speed is of the essence and we will work to get it done immediately. His EFC was an auto-zero, so perhaps just leaving the UGMA account intact could work out okay… and it would speed things up by eliminating the wait for any account transitions before revising the FAFSA (and completing the CSS).

I just want to take the action now that has the best impact over the next four years for him. Our family income will be increasing some (relative to 2018 and 2019) going forward. May not get us out of auto-zero territory given our family size, but it might. I certainly won’t be complaining if it does.