<p>We paid the funeral expenses of my sister, who died with no assets available. It was not at all extravagant, but it still cost quite a bit. Is this a special circumstance for FAFSA purposes, and, if so, how do I notify her school of this? (D is already in college.)</p>
<p>Thanks very much.</p>
<p>I would certainly think it is worth asking the school. I would suggest you send the FA department an email and ask. If they will consider it they will tell you how to go about it and what documentation to provide.</p>
<p>Even if the school considers the expense, it will not actually reduce the EFC. The school would reduce available income, which may not actually help you. It is worth asking. Just realize that even if they do a PJ for you, you may not actually see any difference in the aid package as a result.</p>
<p>I’m confused - wouldn’t reducing available income make the EFC lower once the adjusted income is run through the EFC formula? We had an adjustment a couple of years back for medical expenses and loss of income - as far as I recall the adjustment reduced available income by around $14000 and resulted in a reduction in the EFC of @ 3000 ish for us.</p>
<p>Well … if the EFC is already too high for any kind of need based aid, what would the change do? Even if it reduced EFC by $3000, that might not make a difference. The expense might be $14k, but the change might be $3k … big difference. That’s why I distinguish between it reducing EFC ($3k) and reducing available income ($14k).</p>
<p>When I say “won’t reduce the actual EFC” I mean on a dollar-for-dollar basis. Sorry … I should have elaborated. Thanks for pointing that out, swimcatsmom. You are correct.</p>