<p>Recently, I received letter from college saying that they need my legal guardianship certification. I don't know what that is. Do you guys need to have that kind of things sent or it's just my mistake of identifying myself as "adopted child"? anyone knows how to correct it? And do I just go on the FAFSA website to correct it?</p>
<p>Were you in legal guardianship until the age of 18? Were you ever a ward of the court for even a single day after the age of 13? Did you answer yes to one of the dependency questions on the FAFSA?</p>
<p>No. I have been under the guardianship of my parents all the time…Like most of the people…What possibly did I do wrong?</p>
<p>Look at the answers you gave to the student dependency status questions. You must have answered yes to one. Did you say yes to being in guardianship?</p>
<p>Being in legal guardianship means that Someone Else,through a court action, got legal guardianship of you. Your parents are ALWAYS (by default) your legal guardians, unless someone else has been appointed. So, for that long list of dependency questions (the page that is all Yes and No questions), if you have always been with your parents (sounds like it) the answer to every question, especially the ones at the bottom of that list, should be NO–and then the FAFSA will not be asking for a document.</p>
<p>A legal guardian document is one that has been done in court, where someone’s aunt or grandmother or uncle or older sibling or whoever, has been appointed the legal guardian of a minor child. Colleges sometimes want that document so that students or parents are not cheating. </p>
<p>Your parents are your parents–end of story. If you are adopted, for the FAFSA your adoptive parents are considered exactly the same as biological parents. Yes, just go online and correct it.</p>
<p>Thank you so much guys!!! I didn’t know the default guardianship thing. Now I know I just need to check “no” for all those. Thank you once again!!!</p>
<p>Yes, but … if the school already asked for the document, you will want to tell them that you answered the question in error and are updating your FAFSA with parent information. While computers are wonderful, sometimes they can cause problems. If you update your FAFSA but do not contact the school, a code requesting that guardianship document may stay on your account & hold things up. So a call and follow up email to your financial aid office is a wise idea.</p>
<p>P.S. We get so many students who answer this wrong - you are not alone! :)</p>