At least four dozen parents in the suburbs of Chicago were found to have been giving up guardianship of their high school-aged kids in order for them to qualify for college financial aid and scholarships, an investigation by ProPublica Illinois found.
At least four dozen parents in the suburbs of Chicago were found to have been giving up guardianship of their high school-aged kids in order for them to qualify for college financial aid and scholarships, anBy transferring guardianship to friends or other family members, students are allowed to declare themselves financially independent, thus allowing them to qualify for state aid they wouldn’t ordinarily be privy to.
ProPublica Illinois found more than 40 guardianship cases fitting this profile filed between January 2018 and June 2019 in the Chicago suburbs of Lake County alone. The parents involved in these cases include lawyers, a doctor and an assistant schools superintendent, as well as insurance and real estate agents.
“It’s not like these families are close or on the tipping point” of being eligible for the aid, Borst told ProPublica. “I don’t know how big this is, but I hope we can nip this in the bud now. … If it is legal, at what point is it wrong?” In most of the cases identified, the quest for guardianship was handled by two law firms, one of which was Kabbe Law Group. Mari Berlin, an attorney for the group, represented one guardianship case in which a student’s “parents are finalizing a divorce and can’t afford to support his college education,” meaning he will have to finance it himself.
Berlin said families who are going this route are in a financial position where their income is too high to qualify for financial aid but they still will struggle to pay for college. While this is an atypical use of guardianship, Berlin said, families have a strong legal basis for bringing the cases. The law doesn’t preclude it, she said.
Singapore Latest News, Singapore Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
A water park shuts down after 30 children become 'violently ill,' suffer vomiting, diarrheaA school trip to the Twinlakes Family Theme Park ended with at least 30 children becoming ill. One parent said her children had 'severe diarrhea and projectile vomiting.'
Read more »
College Financial-Aid Loophole: Wealthy Parents Transfer Guardianship of Their Teens to Get AidThe Education Department is looking into a tactic that has been used in some Chicago suburbs, in which wealthy parents transfer legal guardianship of their college-bound children to relatives or friends so the teens can claim financial aid.
Read more »
Grand Theft Auto developer claimed UK subsidies but paid no corporation tax - reportThe company behind smash hit video game Grand Theft Auto has paid no UK corporation tax in 10 years, according to a new report. Investigative think tank Tax Watch UK claims Rockstar North Limited
Read more »
A Cheesy Cauliflower Pasta That's Anything But BoringWho says cauliflower is boring? When it's deeply roasted and tossed with hot, cheesy pasta, it's anything but.
Read more »