My brother has legal physical custody of me, is he considered my guardian?

Paying for College
21

OP also posted this in July or August…

In the same thread he says his parents have a very LOW income while his brother earns about $100,000 a year.

I’m wondering if the push to have the brother be the guardian is to gain instate status for tuition purposes…because otherwise…the parents have less, far less income. And if they are the guardians, that would benefit this student financial aid wise.

With a $0 EFC…he would get the full $5900 Pell Grant and a $5500 Direct Loan. And he claims his parents have $50,000 for college…which is 12,500 a year. $12,500 plus $5900 plus $5500…would almost pay the cost to attend JMU as an INSTATE student…where the cost is about $26,000. BUT if OOS…the money this student would get with a $0 EFC would not work.

22

There’s a lot we’d need to know. It sounds like the brother has primarily custodial day to day responsibilities because he’s in the US, as is the minor OP, but not the parents. If the parents support OP and retain decision making authority, their info may be needed for FA, not the brother’s. So far, I don’t see that custody was legally removed from unfit parents. OP said courts were involved but that could be just to approve paperwork the family initiated. This seems like an arrangement of convenience.

23

From the info provided, the student is not independent due to guardianship & would not be a candidate for a dependency override.

24

Custody and guardianship are not the same thing, but it depends on your state. You’ll need to talk to a lawyer.

25

The OP never came back to this thread, but started a new one here: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/2075199-can-i-be-jailed-for-this.html#latest
He was never in a guardianship.