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Serious FASFA help needed :)

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focadima

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quick background--My best friend died last 18 months ago. She was divorced with 2 kids. The kids disliked their Dad GREATLY, and his behavior warranted the hate. The kids wanted anything but to have to live with him but they had no choice, as soon as the daughter turned 18 she moved out to live with her grandparents. I can go on and on about what a jerk dad is but I wont.

The girl took a year off from school, now she has totally matured. She knows she has to get back on track she is a GOOD student but sadly was taking care of her mom and brother almost exclusively during her mom's last 2.5 years and felt she needed a break from school so she could just be a kid for awhile.

So on to the question She called asking for FASFA help ( yeah!! she always tries to think she is uber mature and needs no help--so this is huge. she admitted she cant do it alone) Her Dad is taking FOREVER to sign off on all the legal life insurance crap--I do not know the whole story but big money is being eaten up each month in lawyer costs.

what exactly does she need to do so that she doesn't have to include her dad on her paperwork -what legal documents does she need? Does she have to file something special ?? What proof does she need that her Dad is no longer in her life?? She lives with her Grandparents but they are not legal guardians as she is 18, and never was there paperwork claiming them as her guardians.

I am off to search but I thought maybe someone here would know.

THANKS
 
It's been a couple of years since I did this & the situation isn't quite the same...i believe that she will have to fill out the FAFSA as she normally would & write an appeal to the school regarding her situation after the original paperwork is processed. She would have to provide some kind of proof that her Dad is not supporting her (of which he may or may not help out with if he is a jerk), but they may take into consideration that the grandparents do provide assistance to her. I don't think that she is going to be deemed completely independent when looking at financial aid. Not sure if that helps?
 
I would have her register as an adult student, NOT a freshman, then it won't matter that she's independent on her FAFSA.

FAFSA pulls totally off of the tax return info. If she filed for herself and is over 18, she is by default independent.

By far the quickest shortcut is to register as an adult student though. Not a freshman.
 
well she is officially a transfer student with just about a years worth of credits from Community College

thanks for that info :)

dh is going to help her fill out the fasfa on Sunday, that info should help us
 
I think it is more complicated.

My oldest moved out at 16 (1 month before her 17th birthday).

She was living with my parents and the FAFSA and school were requiring my taxes. She insisted even after she moved out of their housethat they wanted my taxe.
 
I thought it was very difficult too--I thought there had to be some kind of legal document.

as I told the girl, that if it was that easy people would lie all the time to get more money
 
She wasn't even ON my taxes! She worked, too.

I would tell her to contact the school's financial aid office and get their advice. They will know what gets through FAFSA...it is in their interest to know.
 
yeah...I believe it would depend if they were claiming her as a dependent on their taxes, ie. would use their info


it would be best to talk to the financial aid people at the school; they know what they're doing
 
I'm also pretty sure that it will be more complicated/difficult not to include them. I had a roommate in college who had been disowned by his parents--they wouldn't even speak to him--and it pretty much made him ineligible for financial aid. He spoke with the aid office and they pretty much said that while they sympathized the fact was if that was all it took everyone would just disown their kids--it was a bad situation but I can sort of see their point... Hope it works out...
 
FAFSA is about what you tell them.

There is effectively no difference between an independent self-supporting 22 (or 42!)year old who moved out at 18 and is now returning to college than an independent self-supporting 19 year old who is now returning to college.

If she is not claimed as someone's dependent on their tax return, and she files her own return and claims herself, then she is independent and her income only will count toward her FAFSA filing. If someone is supporting her and claiming her as a dependent, then it is much more murky.

She can file this current FAFSA with her 2012 tax filing (the one that everyone is doing right now). They will look back to 2011 to see who claimed her as a dependent (I assume it was her mother who is now deceased). If her dad did not claim her then there is no issue here.

Will be very interested to hear what they say. My nephew (is 17) and is a very murky legal situation as far as being emancipated/independent, etc. We are having terrible trouble ATTACHING our (mine and DHs) tax return to his file, even though we are his guardians, and even though we claim him as a dependent. It is very likely (with my nephew) that our income will be unable to be matched to FAFSA and will not be taken into consideration at all for nephew (good for him, even though we are low income enough to qualify him for Pell grants & such).

It is all very weird. You need to tell her to give as little information as she has to, to be able to fill out the forms. The minimum needed to comply.
 
sadly through the divorce each of the parents claimed one--the last year ( year her mom died-2011) her dad claimed both--mom always claimed her
 
Depending on her income, she may survive the lookback to 2011. All is not lost. But the financial aid people don't really always understand "blackbelt" applications and such.

There is nothing wrong with doing what I said to do, but I can see how people might think it was shady, etc.

Fact is the Fed wants everyone in college, there is a huge amount of $, and if she complies to the barest minimums of providing info, she may be OK.

In any case make sure she files her own tax return for 2012 and takes herself for a dependent.
 
The information below is from FAFSA:


If you can answer No to all of the following questions, you are considered a dependent student on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA):

Were you born before January 1, 1990?
As of today are you married?
At the beginning of the 2013-2014 school year, will you be working on a master's or doctorate program (such as an MA, MBA, MD, JD, PhD, EdD, or graduate certificate, etc.)?
Are you currently serving on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces for purposes other than training?
Are you a veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces?
Do you have children who will receive more than half of their support from you between July 1, 2013 and June 30, 2014?
Do you have dependents (other than your children or spouse) who live with you and who receive more than half of their support from you, now and through June 30, 2014?
At any time since you turned age 13, were both your parents deceased, were you in foster care or were you a dependent or ward of the court?
As determined by a court in your state of legal residence, are you or were you an emancipated minor?
As determined by a court in your state of legal residence, are you or were you in legal guardianship?
At any time on or after July 1, 2012, did your high school or school district homeless liaison determine that you were an unaccompanied youth who was homeless?
At any time on or after July 1, 2012, did the director of an emergency shelter or transitional housing program funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development determine that you were an unaccompanied youth who was homeless?
At any time on or after July 1, 2012, did the director of a runaway or homeless youth basic center or transitional living program determine that you were an unaccompanied youth who was homeless or were self-supporting and at risk of being homeless?
If you are considered a dependent student, your parents must answer the parental questions on the FAFSA.

If you can answer Yes to any of the questions above, you are considered an independent student and information about your parents is not required on the FAFSA .

Note: Health profession students may be required to provide parental information regardless of their dependency status.

If you have a special circumstance that prevents you from providing parental information you may be able to submit your FAFSA. However, your FAFSA will be incomplete. You must contact the financial office at your college and provide them with documentation to verify your situation.

She is going to have to contact the financial office at her school. I helped a young lady in a similar situation 2 years ago. The girl was living with an aunt, she had no contact with mom and dad had kicked her to the curb before her senior year in high school. She was new to the high school (I work in the school clinic) and I helped her fill out her FAFSA and then helped her appeal when she was denied financial aid. She actually ended up having to enroll at a different college because the one she was originally trying to enroll in would not budge from the "dependant" status. They said it did not matter that she did not live with dad and did not have contact with him, she was still considered his dependant regardless if she was not listed as a dependant on his taxes. We had to call several schools and finally found a community college with financial aid advisors that could/would help her. It was very frustrating because everyone we spoke to kept saying the same thing, "Everyone wants to claim independant status so that they can get grant money......" Whatever. I know I was independant at 17....and I had parents that loved me....I just was working and paying my own way by then. Many people have stopped going to school because their parents won't give their tax information for whatever reason.
I would suggest that she talk to someone in the financial aid office at the school she will be attending asap!
 
She has to go to court to get emancipated from her Dad. I do not know the process, but my daughter's teacher had to do that with his parents because of a bad situation.
 
I agree with Nellie....

It makes all the difference, the financial aid people. When I was visiting my college during the summer I turned 18 to get ready for the fall, a very kind woman in Financial Aid helped me get considered as an independent student.

Even though my parents had actually claimed me (and my son) on their taxes that year and we had done the FAFSA with their income, she told me if I "paid them rent" for the summer that i could be considered independent for more than half the year (since I'd be living in an apartment in college), and she had my financial aid figured on my (very low, summer day camp counselor) income.

The Pell Grants I received made a dramatic, positive and invaluable difference in my life.

I really hope this girl can find helpful financial aid people.

(of course, this was 15 years ago, so YMMV - I'm sure things have changed) :flowers:
 
I've read every book known to man on financial aid (due to having a Jr) and I think she's in for an uphill battle. I don't think she can go to court and get herself emancipated since she's over 18. Fafsa is going to require her "dad"s income until she's over 22. She needs to have a meeting with the school and ask them what she needs to do to prove her status. Some schools will help, most won't. Is she a very desirable student? (high gpa, high ACT, special skills) That might help. Lay it all on the line and be prepared to keep looking for a school.

She's got 1 year of Community College? If she can afford that, she can do another while she tries to sort this out.

Does she have a boyfriend? If yes, and he's not pulling in much $$, then marriage would be the fastest way to get rid of dad's information. Just a thought.
 
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