Question about student loans and declaring independent status.

[The Sauce]

My stepdaughter is in the process of filling out her FAFSA papers and we have determined that if we declare her independent that she is eligible for an additional $5,000 in loans...which she needs. The deduction we would get for keeping her as a dependent is nowhere near that so we wanted to make her an independent for that reason. However, her school's financial aid office says that she can not be "independent" until she turns 25. Is that true? Does anyone know how this works?

 

[Heisenberg]

You can also be independent if you're a grad student and don't have to be 25. Don't know about undergrad though.

 

[psydancerqt]

your income is part of the process till she's 25.

 

[The Sauce]

She is undergrad and between me and my wife we make ~120K.

 

[boomdart]

A) Both of you must die
B) Must show physical abuse records
C) You must disown her
D) She must live on her own for a specific amount of time, and provide documentation of it.

However, I'm 18 and am an independant, but I do not know how mom did it. My friend Cadman could not declare himself as an independant because of the aforementioned reasons...

 

[Yzzim]

I think my girlfriend's sister declared herself independant in her "rebellious" years, even though she was living at home and mooching off her parents (insurance, $$, etc). Anyway, the government found out and she had to repay that money immediately or she'd be in serious trouble.

 

[The Sauce]

Well now I'm not talking about legal independence here...you are independent when you reach a certain age (17 I think), get pregnant, married, both parents dead, etc... I am talking about financial independence. I think that there is a difference.

ps - she is 19

 

[SarcasticDwarf]

I was told by my college that you could claim to be independant if two things happened:

1) You are over 18
2) Your parents do NOT claim you as a dependant on their taxes

that's it.

 

[dxkj]

Hey bud, personal experience here. I got screwed on this for 4 years until I finally got married. My parents didn't pay for anything or help me out, but I couldnt be considered independent until I was old enough (24 or 25), or I got married.

It doesnt matter if they claim themselves on tax return, or you claim them. That is un-related.


In other words, sorry for her she won't get the break.

 

[The Sauce]

Oh she'll get the break...but instead of having to pay back the loan money, we will be making up the difference .

 

[The Sauce]

So does this vary state by state? Some people are saying 18, others 25...what's the story?