<p>Do schools/government look at previous FAFSA applications and compare it to the new one when calculating financial aid for this year?</p>
<p>My parents do not have a marriage license and California does not recognize common law marriages. In the past, I put my mom’s income because I was filed under her. But in turns out, you’re supposed to put the parent’s income that contributes more, and only that parent’s income. My mom’s income (20K) is about 15K less than my dad’s last year (35K) and now hers (20K) but my dad’s has dropped to 25K. If I change it this year, do they think I was lying to try to get more aid, because we really did not know what to do. Not to mention, both parents don’t know how to speak English well so my sister and I try to figure it out.</p>