<p>Hello,
I'm currently a freshman in college right now and am no longer being filed as an independent this year on my parents' taxes. I had a few questions concerning how to maximize the amount of financial aid I can receive since my brother is a senior that will also pursue higher education in the fall.</p>
<ol>
<li>Silly question but my parents don't know: do I file for taxes since I'm now am "adult" and not "dependent" upon my parents? I have no job and no income.</li>
<li>I haven't filed the FAFSA yet, but do I still list my parents' income? I know for my freshman year I had to list my parents' income for financial aid purposes, but since I'm no longer their independent, do I still need to list my parents' information? The problem arises from their yearly income (over $200k) and assets, which made me receiving any aid from my school impossible.</li>
<li>Since I am no longer their dependent, and if I no longer list them on the FAFSA, would I begin receiving financial aid? My parents haven't given me much leeway when it came to what I study/major in since their mindset is "we're paying for you to study what we want you to study," so the only way I'd be able to truly study what I want is to be able to fund my own education... I mean, I'd still study what they want me to, but I'd be able to sign up and pay for summer school classes so I can double major in my preferred area of study. </li>
<li>How does a trust fund work if I were to claim myself as an independent for financial aid purposes, if possible? Would I need to get a job if I were to cut all financial ties with my parents? Like, if I got my parents to set up a trust fund of say X amount for me to live and pay for college and I'm willing to take out loans, would this allow me maximize financial aid without having to get a job (if a job is needed as an independent)?</li>
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<p>Sorry if it seems like I'm trying to game the system, but I wasn't allowed to attend my first choice due to "financial difficulty" and I don't want my younger brother to not attend the best school he can get into and actually like because my parents aren't willing to foot the bill (not that I don't love my current school, but yeah). </p>
<p>You will still be considered a dependent for financial aid purposes regardless of whether your parents claim you as a dependent on their tax return or not.</p>
<p>To be independent for financial aid purposes you need to be 24, have already completed a bachelors degree, be married and providing most of your own support or be (or formerly have been) in the military.</p>
<p>So marriage is my current obstacle… LOL jk thanks for the input! Guess I gotta start brainstorming some more.</p>
<p>How does this system work out for kids whose parents refuse to pay for their education? And my friend got a CalGrant/most of her expenses paid for at UCLA because her “parents claimed she was an independent” for financial aid purposes. Her dad’s a DA in LOs Angeles and he makes over $150k a year by himself not including her mom’s income… This makes no sense :(</p>
<p>If students could get more aid just because their parents refuse to pay, how many parents do you think would then refuse to pay?</p>
<p>Parents can’t just claim a child is independent. It doesn’t work like that. Of course I can’t speak to the situation of your friend and her DA father because I don’t know any details of that situation, and I also don’t know much about CalGrants. For FAFSA purposes though, a child under 24 years old is always considered a dependent of their parents unless one of a few very specific guidelines are met… and parents claiming a child is independent, or even the child claiming they are independent, isn’t enough.</p>
<p>I’m very curious…why aren’t your parents wanting to claim you on their taxes? There is NO tax advantage for you as you have NO income. Do they think this will make a difference on the financial aid forms because it will NOT. The only thing that will happen by them not claiming you on their taxes this year and any other year while you are in college…is that they will LOSE the tax deduction you provide them AND they will not be able to take the tax credits for college students (if you don’t work and don’t file…then you can’t either).</p>
<p>I’m not a tax expert…but we kept our kids on our tax returns as long as we could. It benefited us financially to do so at tax time.</p>
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<p>If there is a trust and you are named beneficiary, you are required to put YOUR total value of the trust on the financial aid application forms. A trust does not make the money “disappear”.</p>
<p>Be aware, too, just because your friend SAYS something was done, does not mean that is in any way accurate. Some people don’t know what happened, some people lie.</p>
<p>Could it be that her parents are divorced or separated? And she filed FAFSA with only her mother’s financial info? That could mean he Dad’s income was not included in calculations</p>
<p>It’s not that my parents don’t want to claim me since I am dependent on them, it’s that everyone is saying they can’t claim me as a dependent since I’m 18 (19 in June). If they can claim me as a dependent I need to tell them asap since my mom’s going to be filing her taxes within the week. </p>
<p>As for my friend, her parents are still married to each other. I have no clue how she got the CalGrant because I thought you had to make less than $60k a year or something around that number?</p>
<p>You can be claimed as a dependent beyond the age of 18, assuming you meet certain guidelines - mainly, having less than about $3,500 in income, and having received significant financial support from your parents.</p>
<p>Your parents can claim you as a dependent if you’re under 24 and a full-time student for at least 5 months in 2010, as long as you did not provide more than half of your own support during the year.</p>
<p>You have received some good advice here. It seems that those you are telling you that you are no longer a dependent aren’t familiar with the provision for full-time students. To summarize and answer your questions in your original post:
<ol>
<li> You still need to include your parents’ income on FAFSA.</li>
<li> Because you will have to include your parents’ income on FAFSA, it appears that you will not receive financial aid given the information you’ve provided.</li>
<li> Your trust fund idea won’t result in your receiving financial aid if you are not otherwise eligible for it. The trust fund will be considered your asset and therefore taken into account. In addition, when the trust fund distributes its income (for example, interest on a savings account) to you, that will be taxable income for you and would have to be included on your financial aid application for the following year.</li>
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Guess I gotta start brainstorming some more.</p>