Question:
How do I prove my dependency for financial aid?
Irish_Welder
2012-10-01 16:19:54 UTC
I'm 20 years old. I've been having a lot of trouble getting financial aid for college. I no longer leave at home and I live with my boyfriend. I left home because of my abusive family, so they support me in no way. I have done the dependency appeals through the college, and had 2 professional people write letters to say I'm dependent. This is my 2nd semester of college and the last semester I didn't have any problems at all. I'm not sure what to do. How do I prove I'm dependent? Do I need to be emancipated? Please help me. Thank you
Three answers:
nancy
2012-10-01 17:13:08 UTC
Dependency for federal financial aid is determined by whether you can answer yes to the the dependency questions on the FAFSA (questions 45-57). It is not determined by whether or not you live with your parents, or are supported by them, or are claimed on their tax return. It makes no difference if someone else is supporting you. If you cannot answer yes to one of those questions, then you are considered a dependent of your parents and you must supply parent information.



The federal aid system does recognize that there are extenuating circumstances, so there is a process that allows a financial aid administrator to override your dependency status. This is usually reserved for serious situations in which it would be unsafe or impossible for a student to provide the information. Students who leave home because of a breakdown in their relationship with their parents often feel that their case merits an override, but how a school defines abuse and how a student defines it are often two different things. Just living apart from your parents and having 2 professional people write letters to confirm that you are living apart and not supported by them is not enough. Your documentation would need to prove that the reason you are living apart is due to abuse that made it impossible or unsafe for you to live there. A dependency override is a judgment call--apparently the person who determined your case felt that the abuse that you experienced did not constitute a situation that would make it unsafe or impossible for you to obtain the information.



Generally, once a determination is made, it cannot be appealed any further. However, for next year, if you wish to be considered independent, you need to provide information from independent sources that indicates that you have not had contact with your parents and that it is not in your best interest to do so. Documentation could include police or social service records, letters from a mental health professional who treated you, information from school counselors from the time you were living at home, etc. If you can provide documentation from sources like these that shows that the situation was more than just a case of you not getting along with your parents, then your chances of being determined to be an independent are better.



As for your question about emanicipation, you are too old for that. Emancipation is a process the legally separates a minor from his/her parents. Since you have passed the age of majority, you are already legally separate from them, so you cannot be emancipated.
Mandy
2012-10-01 23:50:13 UTC
Do you mean independent (you support yourself)? There is no way to get independent status unless you are married, an orphan as a minor, age 24, or another that I won't mention because I don't recommend in college. I also left my family at 18 and have been completely independent for 8 years. I had to wait until I started graduate school to be independent.
2012-10-01 23:34:07 UTC
you can't prove your dependency because you no longer live at home. you'd need your parents to sign your financial aid forms to do so. you can't be emancipated once you're 17 years old. and since you don't work and provide for yourself and pay taxes you can't prove you're independent either.



leaving home comes with the responsibility of providing for yourself. it's not just a matter of leaving just because you don't like their rules. it tells me you need to get a job and work your way through college if you plan on going.


This content was originally posted on Y! Answers, a Q&A website that shut down in 2021.
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