parents marital status on fafsa-it's complicated

dc0104
Tue, 16 Apr 2019 03:37:02 +0000

If my parents aren’t legally separated but have been living separately for almost 5 years now, can/should I put “separated” as their marital status on my fafsa and common app? The reason that they’re not legally separated or divorced is that my father refuses to sign the papers. He still drives 4 hours once or twice a month to spend the weekend here, but it’s not like we enjoy his presence here, quite the opposite, actually. He’s also the main provider and pays for most of our expenses bc my mom only makes a few thousand a year. If someone were to ask him, he’d say that their marital status is married and only living separately bc of his job, but it’s a lot more complicated than that and it’s not how the rest of my family (myself included) feels. Additionally, they file taxes as “married” so would that complicate things/mess with my college application and financial aid if I were to put them as “separated?”