There’s a discussion in the FA forum right now that’s relevant. A single mom remarried.
Apparently, since she hasn’t filed FAFSA yet, she has to include her new husband’s income and assets on FAFSA for her kid to go to college this fall, even though the income/assets are from 2015 (prior prior year from now on) and they just got married in November. One might have counseled her to file FAFSA BEFORE she get married for this year (since it opened around Sept), so for this year at least, his income wouldn’t be included.
Or, consider the notion of paying all your big bills, paying off a credit card or car, before filing FAFSA, since credit card/auto debt isn’t a factor in FA but money in the bank is.
Is it unethical to do do these things?