<p>i've been battling with fafsa for months now and i'm just about ready to throw in the towel</p>
<p>i have been living with a legal guardian since the end of middle school, coming straight from my parents' custody</p>
<p>in the dependency section of the fafsa application, i answered all the questions correctly but it refuses to acknowledge me as anything but an independent student</p>
<p>can anyone help me?</p>
<p>it's just my guardian and i in the household</p>
<p>You ARE an independent student. Why are you fighting that? </p>
<p>That is fine. Why are you upset with that?</p>
<p>You’re NOT supposed to use your guardian’s income. Only your own if you have any. If you have none, that’s ok, too.</p>
<p>Since you have a guardian, your parents’ income isn’t used. </p>
<p>You’ll probably have an EFC of 0</p>
<p>What is the issue?</p>
<p>but i’m not 23, i am not working on a master’s or doctorate, i’m not married, have no dependents, my parents are alive and i have never been a ward or dependent of the court, and i have never been in the us armed forces</p>
<p>my guardian was appointed by parental consent through the power of attorney</p>
<p>What is the negative of just allowing the FAFSA to determine you are independent?</p>
<ol>
<li><p>why does it matter if you (or the student, if you are writing on behalf of him/her) are independent?</p></li>
<li><p>18 or older? usually legal guardianships end at age 18, regardless of circumstance</p></li>
</ol>
<p>It sounds to me like you are/were not in a full legal guardianship, which would apply through court, but in a situation where another adult was given permission to make decisions for you, which is not an actual legal guardianship.</p>
<p>Is this why you are concerned? </p>
<p>This previous link might help you understand:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1152010-complicated-guardianship-financial-aid.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1152010-complicated-guardianship-financial-aid.html</a></p>
<p>I think you should be HAPPY, HAPPY that you’re being classified as Independent because you have a guardian.</p>
<p>Since your parents aren’t supporting/raising you, WHY would you want to be Dependent and then have to have THEM fill out the forms, provide financial info, AND contribute for college (which it doesn’t sound like they would do).</p>
<p>If FAFSA determines you to be independent, then great. Go with that.</p>
<p>You are independent and will have access to FULL FINANCIAL AID which every student on this site craves! Are you embarrassed as being classified as independent? Why are you fighting this? This is a good thing!</p>
<p>My daughters would switch with you in a second!!!</p>
<p>Like friedPasta, I am not sure you are independent. The guardianship has to be court appointed. I’m not sure if voluntary guardianship through a power of attorney qualifies. Are there official court documents relating to the guardianship?</p>
<p>I suggest you contact FAFSA and your school to ask whether the guardianship through power of attorney qualifies. If not, then the FAFSA question about legal guardianship should be answered no.</p>
<p>Also, when do you turn 24? If it is before January 1st, then you be an independent student.</p>
<p>
Perhaps OP just wants to do what’s right, and make certain he doesn’t get something he or she isn’t be entitled to. (Crazy, eh?) As noted, his guardianship does not appear to qualify for independent status per the definitions. If parents could convert their kids to independent status by simply signing a piece of paper, they all would!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>What on earth makes you think that?</p>
<p>The fact that you were not in legal guardianship through the US courts means that you are a dependent student and you must supply your parent’s income/assets in order to receive financial aid. Your guardian having a power of attorney from your parents does not constitute legal guardianship. This would not be an unusual situation especially if student is a citizen and parents who may not be citizens wanted him: her to attend school in the US. The parents have not lost the legal rights to their child. </p>
<p>Hs in the US. Parents have not b</p>
<p>Loakat…you are living with a guardian for a number of years by parental consent. Was this required as a court directive? Or done through the court system? Can you clarify for us?</p>
<p>Sent from my DROID RAZR using CC</p>
<p>Op states that guardianship was given by parent consent through a power of attorney. This is not legal guardianship</p>
<p>I think something is missing here. How do you think you should be classified, independent or dependent? What difference does it make in terms of EFC?</p>
<p>Frankly,</p>
<p>If the guardianship isn’t a legal one, then before this student turns 18, that needs to happen. </p>
<p>Maybe someone here can mention the steps needed to make the guardianship legal.</p>
<p>Since parents essentially “gave away” this child 3+ years ago, it would seem that making the guardianship legal wouldn’t be that hard.</p>
<p>I can see that maybe the since the guardianship isn’t thru the court system that it may cause some dependency question issues.</p>
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</p>
<p>Why does everyone insist that the guardianship is not legal? The OP stated that the guardianship is legal. That means that there is a court order appointing a guardian. That the parent agreed to the guardianship makes it no less legal or enforceable. A guardian was appointed . . . and that person is now legally responsible for the OP, not his or her parents.</p>
<p>And it is also of no consequence that the OP’s parents are still living. They are no longer legally responsible for this child. End of story.</p>
<p>When the OP turns 18, he or she will be an independent student - regardless of the circumstances that led to the appointment of the guardian in the first place.</p>
<p>For FAFSA to consider a student independent it has to be a court appointed guardianship rather than the parents awarding guardianship. As the emphasis for FAFSA is court awarded guardianship, the student needs to provide court papers issued in his/her state of residence to be able to answer YES to the FAFSA question. Power of attorney does not necessarily mean a court was involved.</p>
<p>from <a href=“http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/fotw1213/help/fahelp64.htm[/url]”>http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/fotw1213/help/fahelp64.htm</a></p>
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</p>
<p>It’s not an issue of legal or illegal. The guardianship can be perfectly legal and it does not meet the federal rules for making someone independent. I have heard of internationals who give an American family guardianship so that their child can be enrolled in a U.S. public secondary school. While that may work for a high school, it would not make the student independent for FAFSA purposes.</p>
<p>Based on the information student wrote he is not an independent student. Any parent can essentially sign a power of attorney to a sibling, an adult child, a relative or a friend to allow a student to enroll in high school. It doesn’t even have to be a power of attorney, it can simply be a notarized letter. All the power of attorney does is designate the adult as the loco parentis who can make education and medical decisions in absence of the parent. In this situation the parent has not given up the legal rights to their child. This must happen in the US courts. </p>
<p>I once had a student whose mom was deceased and dad was incarcerated. Even though dad was in jail he was his children’s legal next of kin and had not lost custody of his children. His sister had to hire an attorney so that dad could give court appointed guardianship to her. As a result the sister was appointed guardianship. The boys ( who are now both college was independent when filling out the FAFSA, but had to supply certified copies of the court papers to the school. </p>
<p>As I stated earlier it is not unusual for students to come to school in the US as US public schools must accept students regardless of immigration status.</p>
<p>It depends on what kind of guardianship this is. As Sybbie says, any parent can give someone else guardianship for any number of reason. For FAFSA purposes, it isn’t enough that someone is a student’s legal guardian. Otherwise we can all give a relative or friend legal guardian with financials that can get them favorable financial aid, state residency, all kinds of things. </p>
<p>What I find interesting is that the student is considered an independent rather than insisting on parental information or refusal to fill out the FAFSA. As an independent, the student would be entitled to PELL and the full $9500 Staffords freshman year. As a dependent without parental info, he would only be entitled to $5500 unsubsidized Staffords. I’m curious why the OP wants to be regarded as a dependent rather than an independent.</p>