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Comment by jimbob45 | Hacker News Reader

>The Wall Street Journal was able to reach two parents who were coached by Destination College into transferring guardianship of their kids before they applied for financial aid.

TWO. TWO. Even if we extrapolate that two out beyond our wildest dreams, it's still not symbolic of a pattern. Yes, this is a loophole and yes it should be closed but there does not appear to be any evidence that is being being abused widespread at the current time.

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This isn't exactly rocket science ... my daughter just started college, and as a tech industry employee let me tell you, she got no financial aid (some other academic things aside).

When we started filling out the student loan paperwork, I had literally this idea (the whole legal separation thing) as a passing thought. Of course, because I'm not a monster, I laughed it off and kept on filling out the paperwork ... but one doesn't have to be a great student out of Wharton to figure out a scam like this, and you can bet your arse more people have actually pulled the trigger on it.

When I was 18 I asked my parents to look into doing that. They laughed it off but like you said it’s a pretty obvious loophole but you have plan ahead a bit to utilize it

What exactly would that look like? The article talks about guardianship, but with 18 they aren't your guardian anymore either way (at least in most states). Or is it about not listing you as a dependent? Doesn't that have negative tax implications for the parents?

minimal ... it's a few thousand dollars, and after a certain point in income, that deduction goes away entirely no matter how many children you have.

I don’t think there are many deductions for kids that no longer need child care, maybe 2k. But the biggest expense is medical insurance, that will eat a lot of the savings

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