So I have an adoptive parents (legal parents) who I have lost contact with few years, and currently I live with my biological parents who I am dependent on (I am 21 years old). Now while I was on the phone with a FAFSA agent, she told me to put down my biological parent’s information since I am dependent on them, how would this turn out? because the legal rights of the adopted child (me) is with my adoptive parents, or maybe it’ makes sense because I am no longer a minor, it doesn’t matter which parents I’m dependent on?
I don’t think you get to choose which set of parents to use.
Your legal parents are the ones who adopted you. Legally, your birth mom has no connection to you; it’s no different than if you crashed for a while at a friend’s home and wanted to put his mom’s info on your FAFSA.
I would check back and speak to someone else.
In the eyes of the law and financial aid people your biological parents are not your parents. You cannot use their income/assets because they have no official connection to you.
You will need to use your legal parents’ financial information or wait until you are 24 to be financially free of your parents. Unless you served in the military or support your own child. But since you live with your biological parents they probably provide more than 50% of support of any child you may have so that would bump you back to needing your legal parents’ information.
You can petition the court to have your adoption vacated. The exact procedure probably varies by state but it is done.
Or, if you were ever a ward of the court (in foster care? legally under the jurisdiction of the court even if you never lived in foster care) after age 13, you can file FAFSA as an independent. When did your adoption take place?
If OP vacated the adoption at age 21 she would probably have no legal parents. Her bio parents relinquished parental rights.
Could do an adult adoption by bio parent. Not sure if it’s necessary or if the OP would be better off independent.
By the time this student does all this un-adopting and re-adopting, she’ll be 24. Not that I think this is the right course anyway, just to get financial aid.
I wasn’t recommending it necessarily, just saying it’s possible. Also there are legal next of kin issues for emergencies and other entanglements that some people want severed, depending on circumstances.
Thank you for the replies, I was adopted at the age of 14, but how do I know if I was ever a “ward of the court”? All I know is that I went straight from under my parents to my adoptive parents without involving foster care.
I also visited my local college Financial Aid Officer and told them my situation and they said to put my bio-parents even though their rights were terminated, as long as I have the original Birth Certificate that proves they were once my parents (but this works out only because they’re taking care of me).
Do you know if you had a different date of adoption than the day you moved to the new home? Do you know if you had medicaid after you moved? Probably the easiest thing is to ask your mother (bio). She’d know if it was a private adoption or if her parental rights were terminated prior to the adoption by social services. Was the adoption by a relative?
The FA officer is wrong. She is not legally your parent. It’s sort of like saying you were never married if you married, changed your name, divorced, changed it back. Just because you use the same name on your birth certificate doesn’t mean the married never happened.
This is definitely something you should NOT rely on the internet, especially a board like this, to decide. I believe FAFSA asks who takes you as a dependent on income taxes. They do not have to be related to you.
But that’s just one person’s opinion. Call FAFSA and ask them.
I think that they want to know what your bio parents paid on your behalf, which does go on the FAFSA but only to the extent that those bills are in your name.
However, your EFC will be based on the income/assets of you legal (adoptive) parents
Your biological parents have no legal ties to you. They terminated those rights when they put you up for adoption. Legally, you have one set of parents-- the set who adopted you.
You believe wrong. FAFSA specifically says that it’s not who you’re dependent on. They are actually very clear about who you must put on as your parent/guardian(s) if applicable.
@ItsJustSchool - Dependent for taxes and dependent for the FAFSA are two different things. It is possible to be dependent for one but not the other.
If Op lived with anyone on here for more than 6 months and we provided more than half of his/her support, we could claim him on our taxes. It does not mean he would use our information on the FAFSA as parents.
Not if the OP wasn’t your child and made too much money (like $4000). Different rules for dependent, dependent relative, dependent child, whether the child is a full time student. You have to read the definitions very carefully.’
You can’t always claim that kid sleeping on your couch.
This is what I was responding to. No, you can’t claim just any kid on your couch on your taxes. OP is no longer legally related to the bio mother. They’d have to figure out the eligibility; she is not a qualifying child and not a dependent relative. What is the status to claim her as a dependent?