N Pennsylvania once you turn 18 how do you get devorced/legally separated/emancipated from parents?

I am about to turn 18 and I do not receive support from my mother or father even though I am under the custody of my mother. I would like to be considered independent by the State of Pennsylvania so that I can receive financial aid for school. If I am not independent I will have to submit my mothers tax information and I will receive little to no financial aid with her information.

You can get forms from your school to apply for independent status. It will be up to them rather or not you qualify.

Like Hheath541 said you need to go to the school you wish you attend, go to the admissions office and talk to someone there about a form called Dependency Override.

As previously stated it is up to the school you're wishing to attend's discretion on whether they will accept the override.

The reasons for why it *might* be accepted are:


Although these circumstances are not sufficient for a dependency override, they do not preclude it. Sometimes there are additional circumstances that occur in conjunction with these circumstances that do merit a dependency override. These can include the following:

An abusive family environment (e.g. sexual, physical, or mental abuse or other forms of domestic violence)
Abandonment by parents
Incarceration or institutionalization of both parents
Parents lacking the physical or mental capacity to raise the child
Parents whereabouts unknown or parents cannot be located
Parents hospitalized for an extended period
An unsuitable household (e.g. child removed from the household and placed in foster care)
Married student's spouse dies or student gets divorced

It is very difficult to obtain as these situations alone do no merit it:


In particular, the following circumstances do not merit a dependency override, either alone or in combination:

Parents refuse to contribute to the student's education;
Parents are unwilling to provide information on the application or for verification;
Parents do not claim the student as a dependent for income tax purposes;
Student demonstrates total self-sufficiency.

If you're interested in attending college but are having trouble financing it there are other options out there aside from FAFSA. Try looking around for different types of scholarships. If you're working ask your employer if they have a "Tuition Reimbursement Program", some colleges have programs that allow students to work at the campus to help pay off their tuition.

Consider starting at at Community College near you. Like HAAC near myself if you live in a surrounding county near a campus you get discount off the tuition price and when you're just starting with school your first year is mainly going to be remedial classes.

There is no way to "divorce" your parents. You may be thinking of Emancipation. But once you are 18 you are already emancipated. Even before you hit 18 being Emancipated is very difficult in Pennsylvania since it is set up on a county by county basis and not all counties recognize Emancipation.

FinAid | Professional Judgment | Dependency Overrides (http://www.finaid.org/educators/pj/dependencyoverrides.phtml)