I don’t see anything “unique” about your daughter’s situation at all. Your family has made a decision to relocate…but only one parent will be doing so at this time. This is hardly unique. There are lots of cases where one parent relocates for a job, and another stays behind to sell a house, or have a kid finish HS.
There will be some hurdles you will need to deal with in terms of gaining Alabama residency.
- Your daughter will be graduating from an Illinois high school. That doesn’t support AL residency.
- Your residency her senior year in high school will be Illinois...not Alabama.
- If you complete financial aid forms, you will need to include prior prior year tax return information...and either link to the IRS DRT for the FAFSA or get a tax transcript. If your daughter is going to start college in fall 2020, then she would be completing a 2020-2021 financial aid application form...and your 2018 tax year would be used. Your tax return would reflect an Illinois residence in 2018, and filing as an instate resident...in Illinois which wouldn’t exactly support residency in Alabama.
In 2021-2022, you would use 2019 tax return info…still Illinois residents on the taxes.
In 2022-2023 you would use the 2020 taxes…and it sounds like you would still be Illinois residents on that one too.
- @BelknapPoint for tax purposes...what would this look like if these parents filed jointly? If father was an Illinois resident, but mom was living in Alabama? Dad is the only one working.
- Will you have two residences? One in Illinois and another in Alabama? Will you buy a home in Alabama? Do you own one and will you continue to do so in Illinois? This could affect need based aid...if you needed that.
The University of Alabama auto merit awards would really be the way to go. Your daughter would need to be at the top of her academic game…but an auto merit award from Alabama could being the cost of attendance below UIUC, and very close to what instate students pay to attend Alabama…@mom2collegekids