Careful with the advice you get here. My reading of the form is that at your age, and divorced (not separated), you will not qualify as independent unless you have dependents who rely on you for support. What you are being told here by some people is just plain wrong. We’re talking about the FAFSA here and not whether you are “an adult” or about how your dad files his taxes.

“separated” is married but “divorced” or “widowed” is not married.

This is something you want to discuss with a financial aid professional because your status will indeed change once divorced and this will effect whether you need to include your parent’s income. It doesn’t seem logical but it is the way the forms read.

It may be more beneficial (at your age) to not get divorced until you are considered independent for another reason besides marriage.

This is one to see a professional on – the implications could be very much money indeed.

You should contact a financial aid officer at your school or contact 1-800-4-FED-AID and ask for assistance in how to fill out your 0809 FAFSA.

I’m thinking that they will be looking at your Dad’s income if you are divorced at the time you complete the FAFSA. The criteria to be considered Independent are:

were you born before January 1, 1984 (1985 for the 0809 FAFSA)

are you a graduate or professional student

do you have children you support

do you have legal dependents

are you an orphan or ward of the court

are you active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces

are you a veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces

Since you will still be under 24 at the time of your divorce, they will probably require you to file as a Dependent and include your dad’s income. If you divorced but you had a baby, you would still be considered Independent even though you are under 24.

If you are required to file as a Dependent, you can always appeal the status to your financial aid office and see if they will do a Dependency Override based on your circumstances.

But definitely talk to a financial aid officer for further information/guidance. Good luck!

I was a FA counselor at a college for years. You have to look at the questions on the FAFSA that deal with dependent/independent status. The questions asks, “Are you married today?” Once you are divorced, you will technically be a dependent student again. Your school’s financial aid office can choose to do a “dependency override” through a special circumstances appeal. When the time comes, you should discuss that possibility with your FA counselor, especially if you are supporting yourself. Each school is different, so its important to talk to them about your situation. If they deny your special circumstances appeal, you will be a dependent student, and yes, they will look at your parent’s income. Check out this web site:

http://www.finaid.org/educators/pj/statusreverts.phtml

They will typically only look at your dad’s income if your dad claims you as a dependent for that year. If your dad does not claim you as a dependent, which he probably cannot since you are married, his income will not affect your FAFSA.

You are an adult because your over 18. If you support yourself you are considered an adult. If someone claims you as a dependent, then you may not be considered an adult.

CoachT, caba, and trethoma are all correct. Don’t listen to the rest of the commenters…they don’t know what they’re talking about.

your income. anyway it will probably get you more since i assume you make less than your dad.