<p>I don't live with my biological mother and never have. She left me in the care of my grandmother, whom I call "Mom," but there were never any official documents for it. My grandmother has ALWAYS signed all of the school papers for me and everything...
I haven't seen my biological mother in about 6 years. </p>
<p>I do not have a father, or rather I do somewhere. I have never met him nor do I know his name. My biological mother refused to tell me or my grandmother who it is...</p>
<p>What do I do on the FAFSA? Do I just say that Connie (my grandmother) is my mother? Because I asked Sarah (my mother) for her social and to fax me her tax returns and she absolutely REFUSED. </p>
<p>I dont know what to do...</p>
<p>On your grandmother’s taxes, are you her dependant?</p>
<p>She doesn’t file. She draws social security and makes about 50 a month babysitting.</p>
<p>This is a question for kelsmom. She is a real live financial aid officer, and she can help you figure out what to do. Find her username in one of the threads here, click on it, and then send her a Personal Message (PM). Your situation is a very tricky one.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>In the meantime, have a look at these:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.kidscounsel.org/dependency%20override.pdf[/url]”>http://www.kidscounsel.org/dependency%20override.pdf</a>
[FinAid</a> | Professional Judgment | Dependency Overrides](<a href=“Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid”>Dependency Overrides - Finaid)</p>
<p>“A dependency override is granted to students who have unusual circumstances that would make it inappropriate for a college to expect the students parents to help pay for college.” You might qualify as “students who have been abandoned by their parents.” You would need to work with each individual school’s financial aid office to determine if this applies to you; the office knows how to do this. All the best to you!</p>
<p>You cannot use your grandmother as your parent. It sounds like you are going to have to do a dependency override request. Begin by filing your FAFSA without parent information. It will ask several times if you are sure you want to file without parent info - say yes each time; you want to get the FAFSA on file. Contact the school to find out what they require for a dependency override request (they will probably have a form & they will request some documentation). What schools look for in a case like this is evidence they can retain in a file that will hold up to audit. You will most likely need a typed personal statement that explains the situation IN DETAIL (why you are with grandma, what mom is doing while grandma is raising you, how long it has been, how often you have contact with mom & what it is like when you do, any info like mom abuses drugs or beat you when you lived with her - also explain how you contacted mom & she refused to help). Grandma should also write a detailed explanation of her own outlining the situation. Make sure you both also explain about the lack of contact with your father (details). You should also include a letter or two from professionals familiar with your situation (school guidance counselor, doctor, therapist, clergyperson, etc). You are trying to help the aid officer understand your particular situation & why it is not possible for you to provide parent information because of it. You have to be open, honest, and very specific about the situation itself. </p>
<p>Please pm me if you have any questions now or as you go through the process.</p>