Legal Marriage Consequences for Financial Aid?

Paying for College
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<p>You should meet with a lawyer in your jurisdiction to get real answers. I have had several meetings with same-sex couples lately, to help them decide whether they should marry (now that it’s possible in our state). There are many, many legal consequences (some good, some bad, many good or bad depending on YOUR situation) of marriage, and in this day and age, unless you have strong religious reasons for marrying or not, those consequences may very well drive your decision. Many (but not all) can be adjusted through a prenuptial agreement, so you should also find out what is and is not possible in that regard. All that is state-specific. There can be liability for some of a spouse’s debts (here in Hawaii, one spouse can be liable for the other’s debts for “necessaries” such as food, shelter, and medical care; every state has its own laws in this regard). There may be rights to take a portion of your spouse’s estate at death; rules about how assets and debts get split in divorce; rights to be named as a beneficiary of retirement plans; rights to make decisions about medical treatment; etc.</p>

<p>FYI, I am not convinced that a marriage such as this one, particularly if the couple lives together, would “raise red flags” or even be considered “fraud.” And, it may be that the OP would get substantially more aid if he were independent/married; it would depend on the school, and his (and his spouse’s) financial situation. While as many of you have pointed out, no school HAS to give aid beyond the Federal Pell grant and Direct Loans, many do. The NPC could be useful here.</p>

<p>Free legal advice is worth what you pay for it. (Would you be seeking “free medical advice” if you were contemplating serious surgery, or needed cancer treatment?) Free legal advice is only available for certain matters (e.g., criminal defense for the indigent, some kinds of cases handled by free ‘legal aid’ clinics), and this is not one of them. Kind of like college - there are some schools that no one goes to for free, no matter how poor or talented they are. Otherwise, how would we lawyers feed our kids (let alone send them to college)?</p>

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<p>If you are married, bear in mind that any financial support from your parents AND from your in laws count as income. So unless you both have a way to support yourselves without taking money from the parents, that has to be declared. As dependents, what your parents give you doesn’t have to be itemized, since their income/assets are listed on the FAFSA as part of the process. The financial aid office may ask you how you and your wife are paying the bills if the two of you are showing little or no income. :Perfectly natural question.</p>

<p>As for what the legal ramification outside of school aid, it varies fro state to state, which is why you need to research this for your own state. People who marry without the intention of making their lives with the partner; and yes, this happens a lot, tend to turn to attorneys who come up with pre nuptial agreements to cover all of those contingencies. It’s a business transaction, so you need a business contract. </p>

<p>IMO, even more of an issue is how this will be perceived and understood when it comes to light at certain times in your life. Young people have no idea where the roads will lead them in time. Having a marriage just to pay for college is not a savory item in ones past, and could quash discussion on some opportunities if someone finds out. You also have no idea of how your spouse may turn out and what s/he may do as you are not picking someone important in your life nor are you building a life with this person. It many not be to your benefit. Frankly someone agreeing to do this sort of thing, and that includes you, brings out some alarms as to what kind of character you have. As you well know in that you bring up concerns of the “risk of getting scammed or robbed by the girl due to any marriage laws I am unaware of if she has bad intentions”.</p>