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At 18 you are no longer legally connected to your parents. On a college app., or financial aid, etc., since you are not living under your parents' roof, anywhere it asks for information about your parents, simply put N/A. You are under no obligation to give ANY information about your parents for any reason after you turn 18 (If you are supporting yourself, and living in your own place.).
If you apply for Federal aid and under the age of 24, you're required to produce your parents' tax returns, regardless of whether you live with them or not. College applications are a different animal. I know this because my self-sufficient, 22 year old daughter applied for financial aid. We live in different states, but she was still required to submit my tax return. Of course, because of my income, she did not qualify for aid.
If you apply for Federal aid and under the age of 24, you're required to produce your parents' tax returns, regardless of whether you live with them or not. College applications are a different animal. I know this because my self-sufficient, 22 year old daughter applied for financial aid. We live in different states, but she was still required to submit my tax return. Of course, because of my income, she did not qualify for aid.
I just don't get that either and there should be a way to opt out. For dad's you can probably just say you don't know who he is, but for mom's? You need her tax returns. It sure is one way to tell kids that they are still a product of their parents. I hated that.
So i have a quick question, I'm doing my FAFSA and one of the questions is "Is or was the student in legal guardianship?" What exactly are they meaning by this?
Are or were you a ward of the courts or state? Were you in Foster Care in your state? Were you the ward of a Federally Recognized Tribe? If you were you just hit the lotto of FASFA because you are automatically considered independent without having to submit parents tax info. I just went through this with my "sister" whom my parents had custody of from the time she was 3. She was a Ward of a FRT therefore she was considered independent as soon as she turned 18. After we helped her get all sorts of scholarships to get into college and get going she turned around and ran off......so I don't know what she is doing or if she is even gonna go to college. Kinda ticks me off. I wish she would at least let them know she isn't so they can give the money to someone else.
So i have a quick question, I'm doing my FAFSA and one of the questions is "Is or was the student in legal guardianship?" What exactly are they meaning by this?
Just as okpondlady mentioned, it's if you are/were a ward of a court/the state.
If you're not at least 24 or 25 (I'm not sure exactly which it is anymore) and do not have unusual circumstances, you'll be considered a dependant.
You mean emancipation by a court before they turn 18?
Or some process for emancipationstrictly for financial aid purposes?
I'm not 100% sure, but I think that emancipation by court order before turning 18 MAY mean the student is an independent.
So, it might be worth looking into for a person in the position of the OP.
But, since emancipation can be done BEFORE 18, why can't it be done for those who are independent living AFTER 18 for the expressed purpose of applying for financial aid?
So, it might be worth looking into for a person in the position of the OP.
But, since emancipation can be done BEFORE 18, why can't it be done for those who are independent living AFTER 18 for the expressed purpose of applying for financial aid?
It can't be. Emancipation is done by a court before 18 to give minors the legal rights of an adult. An 18-24 year old has all those rights anyway. The only ways that a kid can be independent for FASFA are if they are married, have been in the military, or if they have some type of special exception. I think a "special exception" could be an emancipation before the age of 18.
Is it fair...no. But at the same time, if all 18 year olds straight out of HS were considered "independent," almost all would get a very significant amount of financial aid which the system couldn't afford to do since many would have zero income and the ones that do have income would have a few thousand maximum.
So, it might be worth looking into for a person in the position of the OP.
But, since emancipation can be done BEFORE 18, why can't it be done for those who are independent living AFTER 18 for the expressed purpose of applying for financial aid?
Because someone screwed it up for the rest of us. Years ago children were saying they didn't live with their parents or that they didn't help support them at all. Yet in fact they either were living with them or their parents DID have enough money to send them to college but were applying for and recieving aid.
The only way to get out of it if you are under 25 is to get proof that your mother does not and/or will not support you whatsoever. You can do this by getting a letter stating/proving from many of the following:
1. your mother
2. your church leader
3. police
4. someone from your highschool that knows your situation
5 other family members that can vouche for your situation
Believe it or not the numbers say that over 75% of people applying for aid in 1999 LIED or falsified their fafsas and recieved ther WRONG amount of financial aid for their financial bracket
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