Pell Grants and children question for anyone knowledgeable in financial aid?

Question

On another board I frequent, a poster is defending her receipt of Pell Grants while under these circumstances:

She has a child. The baby's daddy is living with her, they are planning on getting married. He supports the child and the student.

She says that she's perfectly entitled to the Pell Grant and does *not* have to list his income as a source of "family contribution," and has listed her child as dependent on *her* - even though she does not work, and he provides all the money.

I found this from a website. So tell me: is she committing fraud by not listing his contribution as "additional income," or "child support"?

Quote: Other circumstances which allow the student to report only their income are: having a child and providing more than 50 percent of the child's support (i.e., the student does not live with parents or someone else who is supporting them).

Thanks.

Answer 1

Ok, if she is not working, then who is claming her as a dependent? (to IRS) The sitution doesn't make sense- if she isn't working, then she can't claim her child as a dependent, because she must be claimed on someone else's taxes (she should be claimed by her boyfriend). Part of the requirements for Pell grant eligibility is to be either independent (not claimed as a dependent on anyone else's taxes) OR dependent on another, but STILL qualifying by falling below a certain income bracket. However, you cannot claim someone if you have no income, how are you supporting them? The problem is that, when filling out the FAFSA , you fill out all the info yourself, and you don't have to submit your taxes for cross-checking. However, if something looks fishy, or just sporadically, schools DO ask for this info to make sure no one is doing exactly what it sounds like your friend is doing...

Answer 2

She can't claim the child. I had a problem because I worked for two years to support my boyfriend and son but took a year off to have my daughter. Whe I applied for financial aid I had to file as a depentant on my Mom because I was still under the age limit and I stayed home and hadn't worked to pay for the support of the kids the previous year.

Answer 3

she should report the amount of money her boyfriend is contributing to her. This needs to be reported on worksheet B. She claim that child because she probably supports the kid by buying food provided by the boyfriend. Noone in the financial aid will split hairs on this but will request her to tell that amount per year her boyfriend has given to her.

Answer 4

All I will say is you gotta watch out when you lie to the govt because it can catch up to you when you least expect.