If the issue is parent assets, it is the parent (not the student) who is responsible for reporting the amount. When the parent signs the required verification paperwork, he/she is certifying that the information is correct.
My advice to the OP is to tell your parents that they are required by law to be honest. Tell them that any aid you are offered could be jeopardized if they lie. Then insist that THEY indicate the assets on the verification form, and do not sign the form for them; they must sign their own name.
Be sure to report the CD that is in your name in the student section of your verification form.
If your parents choose to lie, it will be on them. If you end up not getting aid, it will be their fault, not yours. I realize this won’t make you feel better, but the responsibility here rests on them.
This ^^^ exactly is all you can do. Most kids do not know what their parents’ assets are. You can have a good idea, or not. The assets could be in qualified plans, have margins loans against them, just as examples. Unless you’ve been given access to all the info and explanation , you really do not know.
As @kelsmom states, it’s up to your parents to report and sign off on the info. Make sure you report your part of the FAFSA correctly.
It’s a fact of this whole process that dependent students are very much dependent on the parents they have. If parents refuse to fill out the FAFSA, and many do, or do not fill it out correctly , it’s a problem Always a problem., and without an answer because your parents cannot be forever to fill out FaFSA and the consequences of getting caught filing incorrect info is to you.
If your parents want to pay cash for your college , great no fafsa needed, but since I am guessing they do not, you will need to fill one out, if they want a decent aid package it helps to have the correct numbers, I think use the 2018 tax return and fill in what you can, as others have said they have to sign it.
Folks…the issue here is that the parents have put inaccurate info on the FAFSA. They have completed it. The student was selected for verification. The student thinks the info the parents are providing is not correct info.
@NJdad07090 this isn’t a problem getting the FAFSA done…it’s an issue of the student believing the parents are lying about some of the asset amounts.
@cshell2@kelsmom sorry everyone for not responding, I have been trying to avoid this question and I haven’t brought up with my family because I’m feeling way too stressed and I have ap tests coming up next week so I have really been trying to forget about it right now until after I’m done with my exams. My family’s adjusted gross income is around $50,000 and my dad’s wages, salaries, etc is $37,000 on our 2018 tax return. My mom doesn’t work anymore. I know it is a federal offense to lie on the fafsa, and I promise I will always be honest even if that means getting less financial aid or none at all. However, my parents and both my siblings have all told me to put $7000 as my parent’s assets and then $0 for everything else. Thanks, everyone for replying, my family is still not understanding this. I think I will try have to sit down with the family friend who loaned my parents money because I think he will actually listen to me. He’ll probably even be able to change my family’s mind because it feels like to me my say doesn’t matter at all and they need to hear it from someone they trust. I will be attending UC Berkeley this fall which is a real honor, and since it is a public school and I live in cali the cost of attendance is lower than most other colleges. However, it is still really high without any financial aid. Does anyone know if not verifying my fafsa will automatically deny my chances for cal grant (if you any of you guys know what that is) or any scholarships? I honestly hate my family right now. Stay safe everyone.
Nevermind on the cal grant and scholarship financial aid. It says on the website that they won’t disburse federal or state aid until verification is complete. Also, I’m pretty sure that the $30,000 was in their account before I submitted my FAFSA. If I am finally able to resolve this with my family and I put the correct amount. Can I explain the situation to the financial aid office with the fact that the money was a loan from a family friend or will I just have to put whatever amount it was? Once again, thank you to all of you guys for helping me.
We were also selected for FAFSA verification and the only document we had to provide was the tax return that we downloaded from the IRS website.
If you are not getting any need based aid you don’t need to verify if you don’t want to. You will not be able to get any federal or state loans though. Are you able to pay the full tuition and room and board without outside assistance?
A loan from a friend to the parent is considered an asset if it is unspent at the time the FAFSA is filed. @delaneyal , do not enter your parent asset information on the verification worksheet. Your parent needs to do that. You should enter your own assets, and be honest.
Whatever your parent puts is on your parent. You need to accept that your parent bears responsibility for this information. It is possible you don’t really know their finances. The bottom line is that you are responsible for being honest with what you control, and they are responsible for being honest with what they control.
@cshell2@twoinanddone@kelsmom My family’s adjusted gross income was little above $50,000 for 2018. I don’t know where the other $13,000 came from. I will check when I’m able to take another look at the tax return again. I’ll try to talk with my family again soon. Apparently I have until June 30th as the deadline, so I’m going to stay off the subject for 2 weeks or so. Plus mother’s day is coming up and my dad’s birthday is soon as well, so I don’t want to upset even more. @promom4 I don’t think my family will like paying for the whole cost of attendance. Since I won’t get cal grant and other financial aid if I don’t verify my FAFSA, my cost of attendance is going to be an estimated $37,000 according to what the website is telling me. All the more reason to not lie on the FAFSA so I can get financial aid. Hoping for the best!
June 30 is the deadline for the current year. For the next year 2020-21, the deadline for filing the FAFSA will be June 30 2021.
However, the school can put a deadline on filing the FAFSA for priority (school) grants and can set a deadline for responding to verification requests.
Pay attention to the timeline the school indicated for verification. Make sure you return the information to the school before the deadline the school gave you.
Again, please just have your parent complete their section and sign the form. Do not spend so much time worrying that your parents are not telling the truth. You do not know that to be the case, and you may very well be tied up in knots when you shouldn’t be.