<p>I am living with my mother and she is a single parent. She supports me and at a time, she supported my brother as well. He is 21 and out of the home and now it's just me. His father and mine are different so she's never had this problem before. My brother is in contact with his father and I'm not in contact with mine. I've never met him and up until this point, I've thought he was someone else - don't ask - until I made her tell me the truth. On my birth certificate is another person, who is not my father, but I don't claim him nor does he claim me. My real father's whereabouts are unknown and nobody is in contact with him. I don't plan on hunting him down anytime soon either.</p>
<p>I don't know what to do about the non-custodial parent forms and I'm nervous because the deadline for financial aid for one school I applied to is this Friday and that's the only part I haven't filled out. I'm reading something about waivers for this form but it says they're tough to obtain. Can anyone help me understand this?</p>
<p>You need to call the school’s FA office and explain the situation. They should be able to help you.</p>
<p>Okay. Has anyone had a problem like this?</p>
<p>Ask each financial aid office what you need to do to get the NPC paperwork waived. They will tell you. Lots of students have this type of problem. Do not be surprised if each place has different requirements.</p>
<p>I think the waiver generally requires someone outside the family, like a clergy member or attorney or social worker, to say that there is no contact. I’d call your schools ASAP though, with a looming deadline, as it may take awhile to get the waivers together and get all the info you need.</p>
<p>Just contact each school and say you need a noncustodial parent waiver. Here are the things they might require you to submit:</p>
<p>(1) a waiver request form (some schools have them, and others don’t)</p>
<p>(2) a student statement describing the situation (simple: “I’ve never met him and don’t know who he is, and he’s not on my birth certificate.”)</p>
<p>(3) a parent statement describing your father’s absence from your life</p>
<p>(4) one or more statements from non-family members attesting to the fact that your dad isn’t involved in your life</p>
<p>These statements could be from your family doctor, a clergy person, a school guidance counselor, a social worker - anybody outside your family who’s somewhat familiar with the situation. And they do NOT have to know all the details - it’s enough if they can say, “I’ve know this student for years, and the only parent I’ve ever seen is his mother. As far as I know, the dad’s not around."</p>