Question about Homestudy/Finances

farmweddinggirl · October 2010

Hi everyone!

We're getting ready to officially throw our hat into the ring (finally!) and I'm getting nervous about the homestudy. I own a small business, and most of our income comes from that. It's enough to get us by, but barely. My husband has taken most of the last 3 years off to write and concentrate on his artistic portfolio, with some freelance jobs here and there. He's just recently gone back to working a "regular" job.

How much to the homestudy people dig into your finances? Will they care that DH doesn't have a tax return for these last few years, so our income hasn't been that big?

silliestbunny · October 2010

My experience is that it would not be that big of a deal. I felt as if the HS SW was looking for stability and a reasonable plan and control of finances. They asked about life insurance (if you don't have it, it may be worth looking into as I've seen a couple of situations require that info).
As long as you can talk about where you are and how you'll afford a child, I doubt it will prove to be a problem.

silliestbunny · October 2010

PS- Did you end up sign up w/ AH?

alisonemma · October 2010

I can't make a judgment call on your situation, but I can tell you what they looked at for us. They looked at and verified our income from our jobs, and they asked for our account balances (not verified).

farmweddinggirl · October 2010

Silliest - Yeah, we are signing with them. Although I will admit to being a tiny bit nervous about it since I know it hasn't brought a match for you so far (and you're not alone!). But we haven't found anyone else we're as comfortable with, so I'm hoping it works out.

GLynn2009 · October 2010

You will need to verify your incomes and show that you can afford a child. It should be fine if your DH is working and getting a pay check now.

Mary1013 · October 2010

As the previous posts have said, they will look at your finances and ask you to list out everything. Our social worker told us the other night that they just want to make sure you have enough leftover with all of your bills and everything to afford a baby. She said that she looks for people to have at least $400 leftover each month because she said baby expenses are around $400 a month (though I think they are actually more if you consider day care).

farmweddinggirl · October 2010

Thanks, Ladies! This is helpful.

I'll be happy when the home study part of the process is over. Having someone evaluate our apartment/finances feels so invasive, even though I completely understand/support why it needs to be done.

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