<p>My mom and her current boyfriend / second dad have been together since my biological dad abandoned us before I was born.</p>
<p>I have to write a memorable event essay, and I want to write about the day my mom revealed the truth. I know this is unlikely, but I was wondering if the financial aid office somehow found out, would this affect my financial aid?</p>
<p>My mother is legally a single parent, so I get a lot of benefits. We are still considered lower class even with her boyfriend’s income… so it doesn’t really matter. I’m not reaping any benefits I don’t deserve, just to make it clear.</p>
<p>Anyway, is there anything about them having to legally share their income since they’ve lived together for so long? I am aware that there is no common law marriage in California, which is where I reside. Even though my mother is a single parent, it’s okay for her to have a boyfriend right? I mean not that colleges can really do anything about our personal lives… I just wanted to get it clear that this would not affect my financial aid at all.</p>
<p>No. She is legally single. I have a partner too, and when I did FA for my son’s colleges, I was careful to ask. Because your mother’s boyfriend could move out at any time and you would have no legal claim on his support, etc, he is not considered for financial aid purposes. You don’t have to keep it a secret or anything. However, you might mention to your mother that <em>if</em> she got married, then it <em>would</em> affect your financial aid, because then he’d be included in your FAFSA. </p>
<p>It doesn’t matter how long they have been together. As long as he has no legal ties to you (has not adopted you, etc), then he is not an element in your FA applications, period. There are going to be people who complain that this is unfair, but that’s the way it is. And again, it’s that way because he has no legal obligation to support you or your mother; if he decided tomorrow to move out, there would be no legal recourse to request support from him, etc. (I’m not going to get into “palimony” issues, which you can read about [Palimony</a> - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palimony]Palimony”>Palimony in the United States - Wikipedia) , but it’s very rare that this comes up and is almost certainly not likely to affect you. At any rate, schools can’t sue to ask that a boyfriend provide support, so it doesn’t matter.) </p>
<p>I usually have to include a statement on our FA apps about the reason for my low income – that I live with a partner who pays household bills, but has no legal relationship to me or my children.(As I remember, when the AGI is below a certain amount – 9K, maybe? – they ask for an explanation.)</p>
<p>Thanks so much for your information. My mother makes about 25k so yeah. It’s not low to the point where it would be unreasonable to pay for bills if she really had to.</p>
<p>Yay, OP! Well, good luck then! I strongly recommend trying to find some match schools that give lots of need-based aid, to increase the chances that with that FA profile, you’ll get full ride offers. That’s assuming that your mother doesn’t own a lot of assets or have something else that would increase your EFC. Oh, and remind her to keep doing what she’s doing until you get out of undergrad. :-)</p>