Who’s my parent when I fill out my FAFSA? (Infographic)

Who’s my parent when I fill out my FAFSA? (Text Only)

A legal parent includes a biological or adoptive parent, or a person that the state has determined to be your parent (for example, when a state allows another person’s name to be listed as a parent on a birth certificate). Grandparents, foster parents, legal guardians, older brothers or sisters, widowed stepparents, and aunts and uncles are not considered parents unless they have legally adopted you.

Use the table below to determine whose information to provide on the FAFSA based on your parents’ marital status.

Parents’ Marital Status:	Provide Information for:
Never Married	The parent that you lived with most during the last 12 months. If you did not live with one parent more than the other, provide information about the parent who provided more financial support during the last 12 months, or during the most recent year that you actually received support from a parent.
Unmarried and both legal parents living together	Both of your legal parents
Married	Both of your parents
Remarried (after being widowed or divorced)	Parent and Stepparent
Divorced or Separated	The parent that you lived with most during the last 12 months. If you did not live with one parent more than the other, provide information about the parent who provided more financial support during the last 12 months, or during the most recent year that you actually received support from a parent.
Widowed	Your parent