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I'm filling out the FAFSA, and although I'm not considered a dependent I'm going to enter my parent information because apparently some schools want that.

But I have a couple of questions. First, my parents are in the process of getting a divorce, and no longer live together. But I guess they're technically still married until the divorce is finalized, right? I selected "divorced or separated" rather than "married," but I'm not entirely clear on what constitutes "separated".

Also, FAFSA asks "which parent's information will be provided?" So I have to choose one. (Keep in mind that I do not plan on receiving any financial assistance from either of them). Does it matter which one I choose, or am I obligated to choose one (such as the larger income)? Will it make a difference in calculating financial need, if I'm independent? One makes 68k and the other currently makes only ~20k.

Law school students are considered to be independent. You don't have to include any parental information.

mandaleni23 wrote:Law school students are considered to be independent. You don't have to include any parental information.

u'r an idiot. thanks for providing 1/2 the info, which is pretty much = misinformation.

to the OP:

1. depends how old u are and if one parent still claims u on his/her taxes. a person can claim u as an dependent on their taxes if u are under 24 + full time student. then u need to fill out ur FAFSA parental info for the parent who claimed u on their taxes. if the above does not apply, i'm pretty sure the FAFSA form wont even let u proceed to the parental section.

2. note for a lot of schools, in order to qualify for need-based GRANTS, u still need to submit parental info, regardless of how old u are, versus all that is required for LOANS is FAFSA as an independent.