Residency confusion Texas

So my husband, my daughters Step Father, has residency in Texas. So is she automatically a resident of Texas even though she is graduating from a Wisconsin High School?

                Does she have a bio father?  You, her mother, wife of said husband, if you are her custodial parent, where are you a resident? 

Who is claiming her as a dependent on taxes and where is she living?

Where does your daughter live? The state in which she resides is her state for residency.

This is NOT her bio dad…so I’m not thinking his residency, if elsewhere, matters.

Forget the tax return, as that has nothing to do with residency for college tuition purposes.

Does your husband NOT live with you in Wisconsin?

No real confusion, shes graduating in Wisconsin and is a resident there. She will be an OOS student.

But she will be instate for Wisconsin…and I believe there is some agreement with Minnesota too…so check that.

For UTexas residency, she must graduate from a Texas high school.

She is a Wisconsin resident. I order to gain Texas residency she would have to live and work in the state for 12 months. She cannot be a college student while living and working in Texas until the 12 month period has expired.

Some states would allow a tax dependent (which your daughter might be on her stepfather’s taxes), but Texas doesn’t.

“Students are not able to obtain residency through family members, sponsors, or individuals who are not their biological or adoptive parent, or court-appointed legal guardian, even if that person claims them on taxes or provides the majority of their financial need.”

She could establish residency if she too a gap year and lived with the stepfather in Texas.