<p>According to the FASFA requirements, I'm a dependent student and I need my parent's tax information from the previous year. There's a little bit of a problem with this because my mother is, for lack of a better word, transient. I have no way of getting a hold of her, and neither does anybody else. Also, my father hasn't filed his taxes for the past few years and getting in contact with him is also an extreme challenge due to his "off the grid" lifestyle.</p>
<p>Do I have any way around this or do I have any chance of seeking/finding an exemption? Am I screwed because of this? Can I/should I just file anyway without their information?</p>
<p>Thank you.</p>
<p>Who supports you and where do you live? How old are you? Are you a high school student or are you an adult student? If you truly have had NO CONTACT with either of your parents, yours would be an extenuating circumstance. You would need to verify just how you are living (paying rent, getting food, etc), and have some way to verify that your family is really out of your picture. Do you have a guardian? Are you a ward of the court? Have your parents parental rights been terminated? Do you live with relatives? The questions I posed here are all ones you will likely be asked to answer to verify that your parents are out of the picture. Also...does anyone declare you as a dependent on their taxes (tax dependency and finaid dependency are different....but I would venture that if someone is declaring you as a dependent, it would be hard to prove you are independent from them). You should contact the school to which you applied and tell them your circumstances and ask how to proceed.</p>
<p>I'm 22 years old (turning 23 in 2008), and I live by myself is southern california. I work part time to pay for my rent/food/utilities/transportation and nobody gives me assistance or files me as a dependent on their tax returns. I was also never a ward of the court and my parents were my guardians until I turned 18.</p>
<p>And I will contact the school and ask where to go from here. Thanks for the tips. </p>
<p>Also, any more would be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>You sound like an 'exception' to me!</p>
<p>Contact the school is good advice. You will need to put all your income on the Fafsa. The FA people at the school (it sounds like you know where you will be attending) can change the EFC that you get because it might be skewed based on your personal situation.</p>
<p>good luck and hats off to you for taking control of your life under what must have been difficult circumstances.</p>