<prompt> Human: Ive received lots of fragmented information from my relatives, but Im trying to give the most accurate portrayal I can with the information I do have. Our father passed away in December, and my brother is a freshman in college; Im a senior. According to multiple people, my father reported he knew nothing about my mothers financial situation andor whereabouts on the FAFSA, so she cant help him which wasnt true. Now that my dads gone, to me it makes sense that my mother, who is actually kind of well off now, should take on responsibility for my brothers loans and financial aid. But for some reason, my mother relayed to me the necessity to perpetuate the lie that my mother is nowhere to be found and cant help him. I hoped to talk to my brothers financial counselor and be transparent, but my mother and brother said that would be fraud, and he would get kicked outfinedimprisoned. My mother asked me to be a co-signer for my brothers loans or something like that, and I didnt want to be involvedliable for anything, especially hearing after that my dad seemingly falsified the FAFSA. I hardly understand anything about this situation, so apologies if the explanation seems ambiguous. My questions are: is this truly fitting the definition of falsifying the FAFSA? Is there anything I can do? I want to help my brother, but if it involves me lying, I dont want to. Again, if there is more information that is needed, I can try to obtain it, but I myself have just been brought into this mess and know very little. Edit: I saw the Automods post, and posted a similar thing to rStudentLoans. Hopefully one of the two subreddits will help out, as I want to help my brother continue school.  <response>: It looks like the providing misleading information to FAFSA is up to 20k in fines, and up to 5 years jail time, and repayment of all finacial aid received. And the college may suspend or expel the student.So it looks like your best option is Run. You want no part in this, and there is no benefit for you or your brother for you to get involved. The only good news is that now that your father is out of the picture, your brother only has to show his now more modest self support and qualify for even more aid on his own, as long as he is able to continue the lie.You offering your support and co-sign would make you liable, and reduce the amount of benefits he could receive. Short answer, everyone is better off if you and your mother stay out of it, as long as no one discovers the truth.The best solution might be that your brother is now in contact with your mother since the funeral. And going forward include her actual information in the FAFSA, but with the level of penalties If I was your brother I wouldnt say or do anything until I talked to a lawyer. 