<p>I can see and agree with many points on this thread, but it occurs to me that marriages of convenience are as old as the hills, and have been responsible for world history as we know it! Why, all of a sudden, are we so horrified about people doing it today? I agree there is something that smacks of deceit here, but marriages of convenience have always been somewhat deceitful, no?</p>
<p>Wow…</p>
<p>Didn’t mean to start such a fire storm…It’s just something my friend and i were joking about one night, then decided to look at it seriously. I’m not even sure what i’ll end up doing, i just wanted to see if there was anything illegal about it. That’s all</p>
<p>I get that this does not seem morally right, ok, i know that. I just need to find a way to pay for college. This seems like an easier option than going 200k in debt.</p>
<p>Thanks for the opinions. Like i said, i’m going to be looking into the logisitics. </p>
<p>It’s probably a very stupid idea, but im at least going to give it a good look</p>
<p>Wouldn’t the best option be choosing the best college you can honestly afford without excessive debt?</p>
<p>One thing I will note–it’s sad that aid rules cause kids to consider deceit. I know there is no other way–schools have to expect a parental contribution–but it seems like so many parents have no intention of helping.</p>
<p>This thread actually made me laugh quite a lot.</p>
<p>Rocketlouises nonchalant attitude towards marital fraud is rather refreshing in a forum full over overachievers.</p>
<p>
Sorry, but you haven’t presented any factual basis for claiming that the marriage of convenience for FA purposes is either a lie (what is the lie? They would truly be married!) or fraudulent behavior.</p>
<p>In particular, fraud requires all of the following to be met: (1) a false statement of a material fact,(2) knowledge on the part of the defendant that the statement is untrue, (3) intent on the part of the defendant to deceive the alleged victim, (4) justifiable reliance by the alleged victim on the statement, and (5) injury to the alleged victim as a result.</p>
<p>It doesn’t seem to me that (1) and (2) are met - they would be legally married. So from a legal standpoint, where is the fraud?</p>
<p>As I said before, I think the OP would be crazy to get married to try to score some FA, but it’s not because I am morally outraged, it’s because of the potential problems down the road.</p>
<p>The victim of this is the college who has given their money thinking this was a real marriage. Yes, I know your next argument and I’m not a lawyer, but I continue to believe it’s fraud as the college’s intent is not to give money to someone who arranged a marriage for the express purpose of taking their money.</p>
<p>I’m curious, in your own situation, would you have encouraged your DS to do this?</p>
<p>A marriage requires an agreement between the parties to be married. What rocketlouise is talking about specifically is an agreement not to be really married, but to say they are married, and do the paperwork to document the sham marriage. So 1 and 2 of the fraud case are made out.</p>
<p>We don’t talk about sham marriage much here on CC, but this is a well-developed subject in immigration law.</p>
<p>It’s not clear to me that the proposed action does not constitute fraud. It would be better to consult with an attorney to find out for sure. Attorneys usually offer a free initial consultation. Even if not, spending a couple hundred dollars for a one-hour consultation is worth it when considering a major life decision. (And yes, any marriage, even a sham marriage, is a big deal.)</p>
<p>That said, prenups are not foolproof. How effective they are varies from state to state. In general, they have to be fair at the time of the divorce to be upheld. Obviously, this is a subjective test. If one spouse is far more successful than the other, the successful one may have to pay alimony to the less successful one. They may have to pay far more alimony than they received in financial aid.</p>
<p>I also think that previous posters are correct that admissions and financial aid offices will see through the sham marriage even if it does not constitute fraud.</p>
<p>Also, a sham marriage could be discovered by the college after you’ve enrolled. If the college sued for fraud and won, you would owe the college the amount of financial aid you’d received as a result of the sham marriage. This debt would not be dischargeable in bankruptcy because it resulted from a fraud. Also, there is no statute of limitations for suing for fraud. IOW, if the college discovered the sham marriage ten years after you graduated, it would not be too late to sue. Keep in mind that when you owe money to a college, they won’t send out transcripts or confirm awarding of the degree. This would make it difficult to prove to employers, graduate schools and others that you actually graduated until and unless you could pay back the financial aid.</p>
<p>Some of the colleges on Louise’s list while still give meet 100% of demonstrated need are no longer need blind but need sensitive in the admissions process. So her actually getting married so that she could achieve more financial aid could actually backfire on her.</p>
<p>for example one of her schools state:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>This means when it comes to a decision between Louise and another similiarly qualified applicant the tip would go to the student who needs less of the college’s resources.</p>
<p>Legally, I don’t see how the OP would ever be “lying” if she entered into a marriage of convenience. The forms ask if you are married, not if you are in love or deeply committed to your marriage–as they rightly should, because the dynamics of the marriage is none of their business, just as sexual orientation is none of their business unless freely divulged. Since OP is applying to college in the 2010 cycle, presumably she would marry before filing for FA. If you’re really worried, consult a good lawyer on the fraud issue.</p>
<p>Logistically, it’s difficult. Not impossible, but difficult. If the OP could then afford her EFC–and it’s a legitimate question to ask individual adcoms, not necessarily “suspicious,” or you could send an anonymous email–she could apply to full-need / capped-loans schools (which she has the stats for) where institutional aid IS guaranteed.</p>
<p>Ethically, it is up to the OP to decide. I don’t think it is imMORAL, but perhaps borderline unethical.</p>
<p>
The colleges aren’t really victimized at all - they have a certain budget for financial aid; whether is gets used for person A or married couple B, the end result is the same - they spent a certain amount on financial aid. The school is not injured at all.</p>
<p>The victims here would be the federal government (if the married couple received federal money) or whoever would have gotten the FA if the couple had never married. This last would be virtually impossible to identify.</p>
<p>
As I’ve said several times, I think it is a crazy thing to do - not because of moral or ethical reasons, but because of the potential life-wrecking possibilities if it goes wrong. I would not have encouraged my S to do this, but if someone thinks they can drive through the loophole, good luck to them.</p>