<p>A complicated situation exists for a friend. She and her elderly, retired husband adopted her step-grandson to rescue him from his abusive mother (the boy’s father abandoned him before his birth). My friend has supported her husband and his grandson since her husband retired 15 years ago, and is herself approaching retirement. Must she report her income on the boy’s FAFSA and Profile forms? Will she be expected to pay for his college out of her current high earnings, or cosign his loans? She is worried about the financial burden of tuition at a time when she should be saving everything for retirement, especially in light of the market downturn. The boy is not going into a high earning field. My friend also wants to protect her adopted step-grandson from contact with his birth mother, for fear the woman will try to exploit him, so wants to avoid contacting the mother for income statements (the birth mother has low earnings). Are there any avenues for need-based aid?</p>
<p>If the boy was legally adopted, then your friend and husband are now legally the parents. The situation would be the same as it would be for anyone with an adopted child. Yes, she and her husband are considered primaries for paying for his college, and his financial aid will depend on your friend and her husband’s income and assets. That he is retired and elderly will lessen the expected family contribution, but they will be treated as any family with a child going to college.</p>
<p>There is an age-based protection factor built into the EFC formula. That will be helpful for these grandparents. She should run her numbers through a financial aid calculator. Have her do this, and she may find it’s not as bad as she thinks.</p>
<p>If they legally adopted the boy, they are legally responsible for providing all income info. The boy won’t need to contact his birth mother. If they are actually legal guardians rather than adoptive parents, the boy will be considered independent for aid beginning next year. There must be a current court order for guardianship at the time the FAFSA is filed.</p>
<p>This looks like one more case to take directly to the financial aid officers at each of the schools the child applies to. They may be able to create a more favorable financial package (starting of course with the FAFSA and/or CSS Profile results) using their professional discretion.</p>
<p>Good luck to everyone. This is a tough situation.</p>
<p>Thanks so much for advice so far. Actually the step-grandmother did not adopt, but both she and her husband are legal guardians for the boy, and have been since he was preschool age. He will be only 17 when he starts college–is he still treated as an independent on the FAFSA/Profile? Or will he need to get a dependency override (this year and other college years) to avoid having to contact his birth mother each year? Will any of this change when he turns 18? Will his grandfather and grandfathers’s wife be expected to contribute anything at all?</p>
<p>Whoa -
I recently help a young lady who was kicked out of her mother’s house at the age of 12. Her aunt and uncle became her legal guardians until she turned 18. </p>
<p>This is what she was told to do for the in-state University she went to -
She filed the FAFSA with her Mother’s information. Her father is long gone - no info there. Her mother’s income and the fact that there are 3 younger half siblings - qualified her for some financial aid.
The state of PA has a state grant program - the two different addresses triggered a red flag and PHEAA sent her information to explain.
She wrote that she has lived with her aunt and uncle for the past 5 years and was now on her own. The state certified her Independent and the university certified her independent as well.</p>
<p>There are exceptions to every rule - colleges can override the dependent status in certain conditions. Please talk with the folks in the financial aid office - they can help with this.</p>
<p>There are some new rules for next year that may benefit a student in this situation. Someone posted them a while back - I will see if I can find the post.</p>
<p>She is in luck! Next year, the dependency rules change. Students who have legal guardians (court appointed) are automatically independent for financial aid purposes. It will be one of the very first questions on the FAFSA. Once the box is checked off for legal guardianship, only student info will be collected. Of course, the financial aid office will likely want to collect info from the student to keep on file to verify that he does indeed have a legal guardian - so tell the grandma to have copies of the court order ready, in case they must be submitted to the financial aid office.</p>
<p>That is awesome. You guys have no idea how many kids out there can’t find their parents or were kicked out and went to live with relatives. Our public school (state law actually) requires legal guardianship for any student who is not living with their parents.</p>
<p>So does this mean that as long as you had a legal guardian on your 18th birthday then you are an “independent” for your whole college career?
I think the legal guardianship expires on the 18th birthday.</p>
<p>Here is a link to the proposed FAFSA for next year: <a href=“http://www.ifap.ed.gov/fafsa/attachments/0801SummaryChanges0910FAFSA.pdf[/url]”>http://www.ifap.ed.gov/fafsa/attachments/0801SummaryChanges0910FAFSA.pdf</a>. On page three, there are notes explaining what to do for the question about guardianship, which is #57 (page 7). Your comment about the guardianship order expiring at 18 is interesting. I don’t know how that will work for future years. I assume many aid administrators would exercise professional judgment and make the student independent if he/she was independent due to court appointed guardianship for the first year … if the only change is aging out of guardianship … but if it’s p/j, not all would do it (and it can’t be a policy). That is such a good point to bring up! This new dependency item sets students & f/a offices up for a lot of headaches. I wonder if all states have the same rules regarding guardianship expiring at 18? If so, I foresee a lot of issues with students saying they are in guardianship, but they may not really be anymore. Plus, if they are independent the first year, I would imagine not much would change by the next year … but they would have the same old hoops to jump through that they used to have.</p>
<p>Congress is still making modifications to the “anticipated” 2009-2010 FAFSA form to match the HEOA regulations. The issue of guardianship is one of those areas. Under the HEAO of 2008, the verbage (what is showing on the current printing of the FAFSA regulations is being changed to: "is, or was immediately prior to attaining the age of majority, an emancipated minor or in legal guardianship as determined by a court of competent jurisdiction in the individual’s State of legal residence;’’. <a href=“GovInfo”>http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=110_cong_public_laws&docid=f:publ315.110.pdf</a> pdf page 3270 (194 of 432)</p>
<p>Congress, in their infinite wisdom realized that most court orders regarding guardianship stop once the minor child becomes an adult at age 18. As long as the student in question can provide court documents proving the guardianship, s/he should have no problems obtaining independent status for federal aid.</p>
<p>That’s good to know, NikkiiL. Thanks for the info. I am still “training,” but everything is based on current regs. What I know about next year is what I have found out on my own.</p>
<p>Kelsmom,</p>
<p>I know the feeling. I’ve been in this industry for almost 5 years and the training NEVER EVER ends. I think the worst thing about the new HEAO regs is that many haven’t been fine tuned by the DOE and therefore the precise policies are uncertain. Some of the new regulations are already in effect…but without guidance on how to implement them.</p>