<p>I’m going to explain my story and try to make it as short but as informational as possible. In the 10th grade my grandmother went to court to get custody of me. She was awarded sole custody of me and on the court papers it states she had physical and legal custody of me. My father and mother didn’t have custody of me anytime after that, my grandma had full custody until I was 18.</p>
<p>On the FAFSA independent guidelines sheet, it says if I was under a legal guardianship I could be considered to be an independent. My grandmother had legal and physical custody that was awarded by the courts until I was 18 and my parents had no rights to me.</p>
<p>She wasn’t one of my parents but she had legal and physical custody of me until I was 18. Does this count as legal guardianship? If I submit the custody papers to FAFSA will this consider me to be an independent?</p>
<p>No she didn’t adopt me. On the legal documents it just said (my grandma’s name) is awarded legal and physical custody when her and my mom appeared in court.</p>
<p>Was this a voluntary giving up of custody on the part of your parents or did the court take away custody? My son’s good friend has been living with his aunt since he was 8 years old, and that aunt has guardianship of him. However, the parents voluntarily did this, it was not forced by court order due to negligence or other issues. In such cases, you would not be considered independent. Otherwise any of us can give guardianship to a relative of less means in an area and get eligibility for financial aid. In the case of my son’s friend who went to a very expensive private college that meets full need, he could have been eligible for a lot of financial aid as an independent. But since he is an only child and his parents are well to do, he is full pay. Also, even if FAFSA gives it a pass, PROFILE schools reserve the right to make their own determinations on these thing. </p>
<p>I suggest you ask some schools. You may get mixed responses, and you never know in these situation how it will pan out, so I suggest you have some schools on your list on the hopes that you get the aid you want, but make sure you spend some time having some schools you can afford, if the aid does not pan out.</p>
<p>Also be aware that being eligible for aid does not mean getting it. Most schools gap, and gap badly.</p>
<p>No they both were fighting for custody and the judge awarded me to my grandma. It wasn’t voluntary, my mom put up a huge fight because she didn’t want to “lose a kid and get less child support.” My grandma never asked for child support from either parent and that is also stated in the court documents. I was awarded to my grandma by a judge, not a mutual agreement between my parents and my grandma.</p>
<p>Custody is usually given to one or both of the parents of a minor child. Guardianship is usually granted to a non patent and the child is considered a “ward” of the court. Check your documents and the courts in your state. Some states give 3rd part custody without granting guardianship.
Remember that custody and guardianship vary from state to state. In some states parents can have custody while a third party will have guardianship</p>
<p>Did your grandma have a lawyer? You could call and ask the lawyer’s office or even the court clerk’s office where the decision was made. If not, maybe the legal aid society in your city’s phone book. </p>
<p>It sounds like this situation works for independent status. The student just needs a copy of the court order (the school will probably request it for documentation).</p>
<p>You actually have to look it up for each state. For example, my state (Virginia) says:
““Dependent student” means one who is listed as a dependent on the federal or state income tax return of his parents or legal guardian or who receives substantial financial support from his spouse, parents or legal guardian. It shall be presumed that a student under the age of 24 on the date of the alleged entitlement receives substantial financial support from his parents or legal guardian, and therefore is dependent on his parents or legal guardian, unless the student (i) is a veteran or an active duty member of the U.S. Armed Forces; (ii) is a graduate or professional student; (iii) is married; (iv) is a ward of the court or was a ward of the court until age 18; (v) has no adoptive or legal guardian when both parents are deceased; (vi) has legal dependents other than a spouse; or (vii) is able to present clear and convincing evidence that he is financially self-sufficient.”</p>
<p>So in Virginia, you would clearly NOT be independent.</p>
<p>I think the issue here is regarding independence for financial aid purposes, starting with the FAFSA. It can get crazy as to who is a dependent for what purposes. But for FAFSA purposes, independence is achieved if the student was a ward of the state that can happen when guardianship is given to someone other than a parent. Usually, PROFILE will follow suit. It can be a whole other story as to dependence for state residency. I’ve known kids who get into schools on one parent’s residency, but fills out the FAFSA and PROFILE with the other parent as the custodial one, and it can go either way who is declaring the kid dependent on the tax return.</p>
<p>That definition relates to dependency status for in-state tuition charges, from what I can see. That is not the same thing as dependency status for financial aid.</p>
<p>More specifically, that is Virginia’s definition for determining eligibility for in-state status, by virtue of dependence on a Virginia resident, for all purposes including admissions, tuition, and state supported financial aid.</p>
<p>The relevant questions for the FAFSA (I just looked it up) are:</p>
<p>“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?”</p>
<p>No, no, and no.</p>
<p>“Has it been determined by a court in your state of legal residence that you are an emancipated minor or that you are in a legal guardianship?”</p>
<p>Yes. “Legal Guardianship: A relationship created by court order, through which the court appoints an individual other than a minor’s parent to take care of the minor. A legal guardian is not considered a parent on the student’s FAFSA. In fact, a student in legal guardianship does not need to report parent information on the FAFSA because he or she is considered an independent student.” </p>
<p>So his grandmother had physical and legal custody, awarded by the court. She is his legal guardian.</p>
<p>So for FAFSA purposes, he is independent. </p>
<p>But for purposes of financial aid, he would have to check with each school (or state, for public schools). Each school determines financial aid themselves, they simply use the FAFSA information to reach their determination of need. As noted previously, Virginia schools (for example) would consider him to be dependent on his grandmother, they specifically include legal guardians in their definition. So he is not independent for the purposes of determining eligibility for any grant money the state provides for Virginia residents.</p>
<p>Depends on the methodology used by the fin aid office. FOr those schools that have additional questions or use PROFILE, that could be covered. But in most cases that I have seen, school fin aid offices operate independently from admissions. So you can get admitted as a state resident, be assessed OOS fees by whatever office determines these sort of things, and then for fin aid purposes be an independent without any use of the person who is your guardian that makes you eligible for state residency status for admissions. It can really get crazy.</p>
<p>Usually FAFSA only schools will simply go with the EFC that FAFSA generates without getting into such issues. I know a family who has taken in a child and had no problem with the independence issue and fin aid for FAFSA only schools, and problem with only one PROFILE school that insisted on the guardian’s financials. They simply dropped that school from the list and picked up another. Can’t even remember what school it was. </p>