CSS and Legal Guardianship

BelknapPoint
Wed, 04 Dec 2019 21:05:09 +0000

Was he a ‘ward of the state’ at sometime after age 13? That’s the standard for FAFSA. It’s not just a guardianship ordered/approved by the state but that the actual legal custody had transferred to the state at some point.

By “standard,” do you mean the FAFSA standard for determining whether or not the student will need to provide parental information? If so, than a grandparent having legal guardianship of the student, as determined by a court, most certainly can meet that standard, even without legal custody at some point being transferred to the state.

*Answer the questions in this step to determine if you will need to provide parental information. Once you answer “Yes” to any of the questions in this step, skip Step Four and go to Step Five…

Does someone other than your parent or stepparent have legal guardianship of you, as determined by a court in your state of legal residence? See Notes page 10.*

Notes

*The definition of legal guardianship does not include your parents, even if they were appointed by a court to be your guardians. You are also not considered a legal guardian of yourself.

Answer “Yes” if you can provide a copy of a court’s decision that as of today you are an emancipated minor or are in legal guardianship. Also answer “Yes” if you can provide a copy of a court’s decision that you were an emancipated minor or were in legal guardianship immediately before you reached the age of being an adult in your state. The court must be located in your state of legal residence at the time the court’s decision was issued.

Answer “No” if you are still a minor and the court decision is no longer in effect or the court decision was not in effect at the time you became an adult. Also answer “No” and contact your school if custody was awarded by the courts and the court papers say “custody” (not “guardianship”).

The financial aid administrator at your college may require you to provide proof that you were an emancipated minor or in legal guardianship.*