Complicated Parent Situation-- Help me with the FAFSA/CSS!

Hi, I’ll be applying to college next year and would like to get ahead on the FAFSA process knowing it’ll be extremely complicated when the time comes. Basically, my parents were divorced and I lived with my father up until nearly two years ago, when he passed away. I now live with my Grandma under a court-ordered “temporary custodianship”-- this order was issued when my father was still in the hospital and has not been revisited since then. My mother and I are on speaking terms but for the most part she is out of the picture- she lives in a whole other state, and does not contribute child support or anything of the sort. My question is, since I am dependent on my Grandma under a temporary custodianship (and not a legal guardianship), would I be putting down her income and assets on the FAFSA? Or would I put down my mother’s income and assets, despite her not being in my life? In addition, my mother has remarried. If I have to fill out the FAFSA with my mother’s information, do I have to also put down the income and assets of my “stepfather”? How would I go about the CSS profile as well? I don’t know how that differs from the FAFSA with my situation. Please help, thank you!

I’m so sorry you have to deal with such a complicated situation. Is there a guidance counselor at your school who can help you? Or perhaps call one of the colleges you are applying to and ask for assistance from the financial aid department.

Locally, our community college is helpful for this type of thing. They even sponsored a “complete the FAFSA” workshop.

Perhaps the websites for FAFSA and CSS have some info online or you can call them.

But hopefully someone here can answer your questions! Good luck!

I am sorry for your loss. I know that all of this may seem overwhelming but we will try to help you as best we can.

You mother is your legal next of kin and your parent for the FAFSA. If she has remarried, you must include the income and assets of both her and her husband. Your mom and her husband will also have to put their information on the CSS profile.

You grandmother had temporary guardianship while your dad was in the hospital because he was incapacitated. Theoretically the guardianship agreement ended when your dad passed.

Your grandmother will need to go petition the court to get a permanent guardianship order in addition To petitioning for child support from your mom.

When you get your packages you can petition for professional judgement,Or adependency override but both will be challenging. You will have to submit copies of the divorce decree where your dad was granted sole physical and legal custody. You would have to probe that your relationship with your phase been irreparably broken( which is not the case).

You will have to sit down with your mom
And stepdad since they will be first in line to pay for college. You will Ap’s have to see the requirements for in-state tuition where you currently live and where your mom lives.

Call the schools you are applying to and explain your situation. There is a waiver I filled out because I haven’t seen my dad in 6 years and he doesn’t help me pay for anything and also will not release financial statements to anyone so see if you can do the waiver for your mom

I’m sorry for your dad’s death. Your grandma sounds like a honey!

At this point, good for your for looking into this sooner than later.

I would suggest that your grandma look into your custody situation, especially in light of the fact that she is your sole support at this time. Perhaps there is a legal aid society or something like that where she can seek free legal support to guide her through this process.

Legal Aid, or a local law school-- most run clinics which are staffed by students but supervised by law professors. Big hug to you. You sound resilient and mature and I’m sure you are such a credit to your grandmother and father. Condolences on your loss.

If you are still under 18, get this straightened out now. It will be so much easier to be able to file FAFSA as an independent every year, or if you want to switch schools. It may be difficult if your mother fights it, but she may not. If you have medicaid for insurance, you may have someone assigned to you at your county to help you with paperwork.

I think the best route would be for your grandmother to seek legal guardianship (assuming this can be accomplished before you turn 18). She does not have to seek child support from your mother, at least not in my state.

If your mom signs a notarized statement agreeing to the guardianship, it won’t be such a big legal deal. You and your grandma can explain to your mom that you want to tidy up the technicalities of custody so it will be less of an issue when you apply for financial aid. You’re not changing the situation at all, just getting the documentation in line with reality. You should be able to assure your mother it won’t change how often you see her or talk to her, etc.

You possibly could do this without a lawyer if all parties agree and your state has self-help legal resources (online or in an office).

You would then file FAFSA as an independent student. You would have to call each college you apply to, about the Profile. I recommend emailing each Director of Financial Aid, as you may get different answers from different employees, and by using email you’ll have it in writing. Most likely they would have your grandma put her info on the Profile.

I highly recommend you apply to several FAFSA only colleges as the Profile is something of a wild card in your situation.

If you leave things as they are now, your mother and stepfather will need to cooperate with you in completing FAFSA and, I believe, the Profile.

If your grandmother is a guardian, you DO NOT use her information. You’d either be independent or use your mother’s.

The ‘automatic’ independent status for a child under a guardianship is if you are/were a ward of the state. You were not. There is also another question on the FAFSA about a guardianship and that can be considered. I think they are questions 52/54 (maybe 53/55?). If your mother signs over guardianship, you may still be considered her child for FAFSA.

How are you covered for insurance? That may tell something about legal status.

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Your grandmother will need to go petition the court to get a permanent guardianship order in addition To petitioning for child support from your mom.


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Seems like this is the best path to proceed. Then you won’t have to use your mom/stepdad’s info… I suspect that mom and stepdad might not be too forthcoming with fafsa for a variety of reasons and then you’ll be screwed. So it’s best to have grandma pursue permanent guardianship now. If this happens, then you’ll be independent and only use your own info.

The guardianship with grandma will make you independent for FAFSA purposes.

BUT there are some Profile schools that might ask for guardian financials. Word has it that Bates is one of them. I’m not sure how common this is.

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The ‘automatic’ independent status for a child under a guardianship is if you are/were a ward of the state. You were not. There is also another question on the FAFSA about a guardianship and that can be considered. I think they are questions 52/54 (maybe 53/55?). If your mother signs over guardianship, you may still be considered her child for FAFSA.

How are you covered for insurance? That may tell something about legal status.
[/quote ]

The guardianship clause is separate from the ward of the state clause.

Minors can be covered on an adult’s insurance without demonstrating any official legal status.

My comment about mom signing a notarized statement agreeing to legal guardianship was just meant as a part of legal action, to show guardianship is not contested and probably avoiding mom having to appear in court. It was not meant to mean just signing a paper is good enough, not for FAFSA anyway.

All the Profile colleges my ward applied to, wanted MY info on the Profile.

Some insurance allow guardians to include the child on insurance, but the ACA doesn’t require it and many group insurance policies do not allow it. We don’t know how old the grandmother is and she might be on medicare which would necessitate the child having her own policy.

I just suggested it because if the child is on medicaid, she’d have a file with the county and that could lead to more help with the legal issues.

OP said in the original post that her grandmother has custody of her, so she’d answer ‘no’ to the guardianship question and have to use her mother’s information on FAFSA.