For reasons I do not want to get into because it will take a Dr.Phil show to sort it out my 17yo now lives with my mother. She will live there until she decides to move out. She will NEVER live our home again.
By the time she goes to college my daughter will have lived there for over a year. This year my mother will be claiming her on her taxes. There is no custody agreement.
When she goes to fill out the Financial Aid forms can she use my mothers income? I know what the rules are for FAFSA and it seems like our income will have to be reported because there is no Custody Order. How would my daughter go about getting the college to accept my mothers income instead of ours or is that even possible?
If the grandmother is NOT her adopted parent, there is NO WAY you can get a college to use grandma’s income instead of yours. YOU are still legally your daughter’s legal guardians.
- The only way to have grandma’s income on the financial aid forms is if grandma legally adopted your daughter and your parental rights were terminated.
- If grandma were your daughter’s court appointed legal guardian...COURT APPOINTED...with proper documentation, your daughter would be independent for financial aid purposes...and your parent income would not be included...neither would grandma’s.
- Grandma’s tax filing status has NOTHING to do with this. At. All. Not at all. It is very possible for grandma to be supporting this kiddo fully, and thus be able to declare her on her taxes (grandma needs to make sure this is OK with a tax expert). BUT this does not mean grandma would use her income on the financial aid forms...at all. Well...unless she adopts your daughter...but that can’t happen unless your parental rights are terminated.
SOOOOO…are you going to terminate your parental rights and offer your daughter for adoption to grandma? Get moving…this can be a lengthy process…and you would need to do it before your kiddo reaches age 18.
Really…your income needs to be on the financial aid forms. Why don’t you want to do that?
Really…your income needs to be on the financial aid forms. Why don’t you want to do that?
…because of a 6 years of a multitude of reasons, but it looks like we really don’t have a choice
A college student that I work with goes to school in Louisiana. I have spoken to her mother who told me that her parents claim her daughter on their tax returns and McNeese State took the grandparents income into consideration when deciding tuition. I know FAFSA is out. My daughter is hoping whatever college she chooses will also do the same
It might be worthwhile consulting with a lawyer to determine if your D can be legally emancipated which might mean that your income won’t count for FAFSA anymore. You might want to sign over guardianship to your mom before she turns 18 if the lawyer recommends it.
@techmom99 and @mcardamone
Emancipation is very serious business, and takes some pretty significant documentation. You can’t just say “gee…I’d like my kid to be an emancipated minor”. It’s a legal process that can take a LONG time. LONG.
And it would need to be completely done before the student is 18.
What do you mean by…
And lastly…do you really have all of the personal details the friend’s college considered when making a decision? Probably not.
Your daughter can ask the colleges…but don’t be at all surprised if they say YOUR parent info is required.
Thumper- of course not because I wasn’t at their meeting with the financial adviser. I only know what the mom told me
Maybe I am a little uneducated about college tuition and the way things work but I thought the school would also take into consideration various circumstances that would influence a students ability to pay.
Techmom - we have thought about going that route as well
Colleges will consider special circumstances. But you have not presented one that the colleges will consider.
Living with the grandmother does NOT constitute a special circumstance that would exclude your financials from being included…as long as you are the legal parents of this child.
You can ask…but don’t be surprised if the colleges say no.
@mcardamone The rules of FAFSA are pretty clear, but colleges are not bound by FAFSA. Private schools especially have the latitude to do whatever they like with regard to financial aid. I would talk to the finanical aid offices of the schools your daughter is most interested in and see what they say.
I would suggest your daughter have this conversation. If you, the parent, have this talk, the college is going to really wonder…since the underlying thing would be that the parent isn’t involved with the child…and the grandma is. Otherwise…why would the parent be having this chat?
Colleges make these special considerations when there is no contact between the student and parent…not simply because a child is living with a grandparent.
Your student needs to do the asking.
Your daughter can ask schools for a professional judgement. However, colleges may decide to count your mom’s income in addition to your income and assets when calculating your daughter’s Expected Family Contribution. If there are more people available to pay her expenses, why would they charge you less?
^^I was thinking the same thing. One of the questions is (something like) Do you get any kind of support from anyone other than your parents? (The question is not exactly that – can’t remember exact phrasing right now). But, yeah, three adults are contributing to her support. Her living with her grandmother frees up more of YOUR money to pay for college. That’s the way they will see it.
Didn’t think of the double edge sword.
Thank you everyone for the responses
The short answer is if you haven’t severed your parent/child relationship through a court (terminate parental rights, emancipation, court ordered guardianship), you are still going to be required to submit FA information on the FAFSA, which all schools use to give out federal aid and which most schools use to give out their own aid, and the CSS which some schools use to give out their own aid.
You might be able to do a termination of rights and transfer of guardianship to the grandmother. The reason it often takes a long time is if it is disputed action, but if all parties agree and are willing to pay for a private social worker evaluation, things can move quickly. However, make sure that’s what you really want before doing it. If your D becomes independent for FA (the grandmother’s income would only be used if she adopted her, not if she is just a guardian), she’d get the ~$6000 as a Pell grant, and the subsidized loan of $3500 and $2000 unsubsidized loan. All other financial aid would be up to the school and most don’t give full need based FA. This might not be a lot different than if she filed with your financial information, or she might be better off looking for merit aid at schools that give large awards.
If you are doing this for financial aid reasons…you think your student will get more aid with grandma’s income and assets than your parent ones…please…think again.
Terminating parental rights is a very serious decision. Placing your daughter in court ordered legal guardianship with someone else is serious (and there usually needs to be a good reason to do so).
Some parents think that their kid will net buckets of need based aid with some “financial jockeying” and they are very surprised when the schools question what’s going on, and/or they don’t get buckets of need based aid.
The vast majority of colleges do not meet full financial need for all accepted students.
@twoinanddone has posted the only guarantees for a $0 EFC student…$6000 in Pell Grant, and a $5500 Loan in the student’s name. Really…your kid would get the $5500 Loan regardless of her guardianship.
Where, for example, is your kiddo getting her health insurance? Who pays her cell phone bill? Who pays ANY bills on her behalf (that is the question on the FAFSA)?
And remember…for the 2019-2020 academic year, it’s 2017 income information that is used to complete the FAFSA and Profile. It sounds like your kiddo was your dependent in 2017. Schools will rightfully want to know why that isn’t the case any longer…plan to be selected for verification and plan to provide documentation to them.
As a financial aid professional, my take on it is this: If a parent is involved enough in the process to be posting a question about their child’s financial aid on CC, I cannot imagine what basis I would have to declare that parent’s child independent. Dependency overrides must fall within the regulations. I don’t want to make assumptions about the issues at hand in OP’s case, but I cannot imagine any scenarios that would lead to an override if the parent is in the picture, rational, and concerned enough about the child to do this sort of research. Bottom line: I am 99% sure I would want the parent’s/parents’ info on the FAFSA (giving a 1% leeway that something is going on that I could not have imagined & might make me change my mind).