My dad makes 54.5K AGI and my mom makes 57K AGI. On the CSS and FAFSA I am supposed to choose the one with “greater income and assets” as my custodial parent since they have split custody over me. If on the FAFSA little discrepancies such as like 1k here or there on untaxable income or something puts one slightly over and they find out, will I be instantly rejected? Is it so close they wouldn’t care or would realize it was a mistake. Both their assets are 0 since home equity and retirement don’t count toward assets.
Pick the one who has the higher income. Those are the rules.
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The FAFSA contributor should be the parent who provided the most financial support for you over the past 12 months. Are you saying they both contributed exactly the same amount to your support?
If yes, then choose the one with greater income and assets (make sure you count non-retirement savings/checking accounts as assets.) A couple of thousand dollars in income won’t make much of a difference in your financial aid calculations at many schools. At some schools, it will make no difference at all.
If the parent who is the FAFSA contributor is remarried, the new spouse’s financials will also go on FAFSA.
https://studentaid.gov/apply-for-aid/fafsa/filling-out/parent-info
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