<p>My husband is a court appointed guardian to a 17 year old. He has been her guardian since she was 5, and has been involved in her life since before she was born. In her life, he is Dad. Her mom is an addict, homeless and unreachable. Her bio-dad has never been in touch. Both bio parents are on her birth certificate. She has lived with us for many years, and there are very few people who know that my husband is not her real Dad. </p>
<p>I read on the FAFSA site that she would be an independant student. We have the court paperwork indicating that my husband is her court appointed guardian.</p>
<p>I guess what I am trying to figure out is, will she get better financial aid due to her independant status? Will her long term/parent like relationship with my husband affect this? We don't want to put her down as an independant student, but because she has had us supporting her for all these years get her (or us) in trouble for somehow misrepresenting her financial situation.</p>
<p>My understanding is that if she is In legal guardianship, she is considered an independent student for FAFSA financial aid purposes. No parent income or assets would be listed.</p>
<p>That is my understanding too. As an independent student, your (your husband and yours) income will not be used nor your assets. Most all of the time, she will come out better. When she fills out the FAFSA, make sure her accounts are not flush with money from a newly deposited check as her assets will be hit immediately. Perhaps if she reimburses you for her expenses, you can set up a fund in your name to help pay for some of her college things.</p>
<p>My husband and I are the court-appointed guardians for 3 nephews, currently ages 19, 17 and 16. You are correct that the young lady in question will be considered an independent student. Indepedent student status is a very good thing in terms of financial aid. As an independent student with a 0 EFC, our oldest nephew was awarded received several very generous financial aid packages with minimal loans. That said, 2 of the CSS Profile Schools that he applied to requested my husband’s and my tax information even though we are not adoptive parents of the boys and the legal guardianship terminates at 18. I called each of these financial aid offices and explained that my husband and I had already put 4 daughters through college, that we had not planned financially for the boys because we had to take custody unexpectedly 3 years ago, and that we were nearing retirement age. None of that made any difference and they insisted on our tax returns. I provided the returns to one of these schools (Bates) and when the financial aid award was released it contained the expectation that my husband and I would make a substantial contribution to our nephew’s education. Needless to say, our nephew didn’t go there. If your "daughter"is applying to CSS Profile schools, they are free to ask for whatever they want in terms of documentation to determine financial aid. This caught me unawares with our first nephew, but I’m much more savvy this time around with #2 (or #6 depending on how you look at it ! )</p>
<p>Catie, that is a good point to raise when it comes to these PROFILE schools and those that use their own applications. Really, when it comes to a school’s own funds, they can use it anyway they please and there is no fairness involved in it at all. They can use pension assets for one kid and not for another, It is totallly up to them as to what they want to give in financial aid. That is why when a schools says they meet 100% of need, their track record and how they treat YOU is more important than that statement. THEY define the need and they can define it any way they please. They don’t even need documentation and can use what they have for anyone anyway they please. When applying for financial aid, it is wise to cast a wide net for that reason.</p>
<p>Yes, I agree 100% with casting a wide net. I would also encourage you NOT to rely on the net price calculators in your circumstance. Bates’ net price calculator shows, for example, that an independent student would have a zero expected parent contribution. It also shows an estimate of 43,800 in Bates grant aid. All I can say is that their offer to our nephew was nowhere close to this and they expected my husband and I, who at that point had been legal guardians for just over 1 year, to contribute as if we were our nephew’s parents. So, obviously, they chose not to treat him as an independent student despite the fact that he was a ward of the court placed in a legal guardianship with a deceased father and a crystal meth addicted mother whose whereabouts are unknown.</p>
<p>This is only speculation, but based on our experience I do worry for you that the fact that your daughter has been in your care for so long will work against her/you with some schools, and that their expectation will be that you should kick in as if you were her blood parents.</p>
<p>Since she will get more aid as an independent student, the fact that there will be schools that will not accept that definition is just something you have to live with. For PELL, Stafford and other federal and state funds, the student’s EFC can be zero which will give her that as a base. Then like anyone and everyone else, the student has to find a school that will recognize her particular circumstance and be willing to pay for it. Also if you are willing to pay, you can cross that bridge when ti comes up. Might as well see what the situation is if your money is not on the table.</p>
! )</p>