Independent Student Issue

[stargurl93]

<p>Lets say in an situation there are two parents: Custodial Parent and Non Custodial Parent.</p>

<p>The Parents were never married to each other but they have live together. There was no common law marriage. They have a child or children. </p>

<p>A few years after the parents split, one of the parents request and receives child's support even after the child turned 18 and attends college (aka custodial parent.)</p>

<p>When the child and custodial parent files for FAFSA, there is no income file from the non custodial parent. They did not put on the FAFSA that they receive child support. The only thing that is on the FASFA is the custodial parent and the child's income.</p>

<p>The Custodial Parent and Non Custodial Parent go to court and the court rules that one of the children is emancipated. According to FAFSA, if one of the children is emancipated by the court, the child can file as an independent student. So the child would bring in the verification form, their copy of the tax return and the letter of the court that says that they are emancipated to receive financial aid as independent. </p>

<p>If the child was to do the verification for Federal Pell Grant, would the child be denied financial aid if the FASFA is not including the child support payments? </p>

<p>Would the information matter after the child files as independent on FAFSA? You do not need the parent's information after you are consider independent.</p>

[kelsmom]

<p>I am going to answer only the question and not comment on anything else. If the student is considered by the aid office to truly be independent, only the student’s income/assets matter. Nothing that was or was not on the parent info on the prior FAFSA is relevant. However, if the student is determined not to be independent, the custodial parent’s child support must be reported (I imagine the student’s info will be verified, and at that time the parent can report the child support on the verification worksheet).</p>

[boysx3]

<p>OP, you might want to check with a family law lawyer or a local legal clinic on the actual meanings of the designations you are using. Legally, neither parent has to support a child who is 18–but the fact that parents “refuse” to support an 18 year old does not necessarily make the child independent for financial aid purposes. And most courts will not generally “emancipate” an 18 year old only so the student can qualify to file for financial aid on his or her own.</p>

[BrownParent]

<p>Just give a straight story on what has actually happened, don’t use hypotheticals. </p>

<p>Is the child in college with an award based upon being a dependent? </p>

<p>Did an incorrect FAFSA get filed and financial aid awarded on that?</p>

<p>Did a judge emancipate a child that is over 18??? Whaaa??</p>

[swimcatsmom]

<p>I found this online. It explains that for FAFSA the student must be an emancipated minor and that emancipation for child support purposes is not the same thing. It sounds like this may be the case here, but you would need to check with your school to be sure. </p>

<p>

The use of the word “emancipation” is confusing for many families. Emancipation for child support purposes is not the same as emancipation for federal student aid purposes. Emancipation means that the child is no longer considered a minor. Emancipation can occur by a child reaching the age of majority or by a court order granting the child adult status before the child reaches the age of majority. The former is often referred to as emancipation while the latter is often referred to as an emancipated minor.</p>

<p>When a child’s parents get divorced, child support obligations continue until the child reaches the age of majority, typically age 18 or 21. In some states this obligation will continue until the child has graduated from high school or age 19. When the child reaches the age of majority, a court order might be required to terminate child support obligation. This court order might refer to the child as emancipated, but that is not the same as an emancipated minor.</p>

<p>The Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 (P.L. 110-315) established a new way for a child to be considered an independent student effective July 1, 2010 for the 2010-11 academic year, namely as an emancipated minor. The specific language added to section 480(d)(1)(C) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 reads: “is, or was immediately prior to attaining the age of majority, an emancipated minor … as determined by a court of competent jurisdiction in the individual’s State of legal residence.” Note that the statutory language refers to the student as an emancipated minor, and not merely as emancipated. An emancipated minor is a child who has not yet reached the age of majority but who has been granted adult status early by a court. (In this case the status must be granted by a court of competent jurisdiction in the child’s state of residence.) This is not the same as emancipation for child support purposes, where the child becomes emancipated by reaching the age of majority.</p>

<p>If your child is emancipated but not an emancipated minor, she is still considered dependent for federal student aid purposes. You must still complete the FAFSA for your child.

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