Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, October 30, 1995                   TAG: 9510300004
SECTION: MONEY                    PAGE: 8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MAG POFF
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

HOW TO INCREASE ODDS OF GETTING COLLEGE AID

We owe about $30,000 at 9 percent on our home. Its value is probably $50,000. We also own land that is being claimed as a timber farm. There is a small house, where we used to live, located there. It is not rented and is used as a weekend retreat. The value of the land is probably $60,000. This is paid for, and is free and clear. Our only other debt is about $6,000 on an automobile. We have very little in savings.

What should we do to maximize our children's prospects for financial aid? They are both excellent students. Should I borrow as much as I can against the land and pay off the house and car loan? Could I still claim on my income tax form the interest as an expense for the timber farm or on the second home? I would like to have some cash left over to remodel the second home and still send my kids to college.

A: Julie Sina, head of scholarships and financial aid at Virginia Tech, and her staff looked at your letter. They found that you raise many interesting questions.

She said you are focused in the right direction when you ask about the timber farm property. The value of the farmland does need to be reported in the application for financial aid.

Increased debt on the farmland, which is not used as the primary residence, would work to your students' advantage where financial aid is concerned, Sina said.

Decreasing the debt on your home and increasing the debt on the farmland, as you seem to suggest, would be to your advantage, she said. Home equity, or lack thereof, would not be a factor.

If both your son and daughter will be attending college at the same time, she said, that could increase your students' financial aid eligibility.

You mention that your children are excellent students. Sina said need-based aid is primarily based on information reported within the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. This form is driven by tax information, she pointed out. For example, aid for 1995-96 is based on tax forms filed for 1994.

Sina encouraged you to contact the schools that your son and daughter would be attending.

At Virginia Tech, she pointed out, scholarships are awarded primarily from four sources:

Merit-based scholarships awarded to new students at the time of admission through the admission process;

A student's academic department;

Through the academic department on the college level; and

A general scholarship application available through Sina's office. The office has awarded about $100,000 in general scholarship money for 1995-96.

How to reach Investors Corp.

Q: I would like the address or phone number or both of the National Association of Investors Corp.

A: The National Association of Investors Corp. recently moved. Its new address is 711 West 13-Mile Road, Madison Heights, Mich. 48071. The phone number is 810-583-6242.

The organization is composed of members of investment clubs and individuals who are interested in investing. It publishes the magazine Better Investing.

Probate requirements

Q: Can you tell me where I must write to obtain a copy of regulations governing probate requirements for the state of Virginia?

A: The clerk of the circuit court in Franklin County, where you live, has a written set of instructions for people who probate a will. A spokeswoman for the court said that the instructions tell you what your duties are as executor or administrator of an estate and how to accomplish them. She knew of no pamphlet or other publication put out by the state about probate.

The Franklin County clerk, like clerks in other communities, has copies of the Virginia Code that outlines the duties of an executor under a will or an administrator of an estate without a will. The laws, however, tend to be scattered in various sections of the code.

The clerks of the circuit courts of Roanoke and Roanoke County also have written instructions for people who are probating a will. In addition, Roanoke court has a 27-page document prepared by the local commissioners of accounts outlining duties of executors and administrators.

Bert Crush, clerk of Roanoke Circuit Court, said it is simple to settle a very small estate. But he said that anyone who faces handling a complicated estate should consider hiring a lawyer. The instructions only get you started in the process of a complex estate, he explained.

Brenda Agee, who works in the probate section of Roanoke County Circuit Court, also advises people who must deal with an estate of any size to retain legal counsel.