Friend mentally bullied by family, can she move out at 16?

This is an excerpt from another webpage that may help you decide what to do. I was in a similar situation before, but I did not have a boyfriend or even friends due to the way my parents treated me and for fear, and subsiquentially left home a month before I turned 16. I do know that if your parents want to get custody as guardians, there are ways of doing that. In the last part of your question, what you are asking about amounts to emanipation, which just means that she would have to get a job, be self-supporting, ect like if she were over the age of 18. Once she gets emancipated or your parents get custody of her, it might be a good idea to look into moving her to a different school and (even before) getting a few restraining orders against her mother and sister. If she is being abused, no matter in what form, I would get her away from there ASAP. good luck Most of these facts are true for all 50 states, but can vary slightly. http://www.deltabravo.net/custody/emancipate1.php EARNING ONE’S OWN SUPPORT AND ABANDONING PARENTS’ HOME

As noted above, emancipation occurs when the child abandons the parents’ home and goes out to fight life’s battles on his own. E.g., Bradford v. Wallace, 25 Fam. L. Rep. (BNA) 1465 (Ala. Civ. App. July 16, 1999) (18-year-old child averaged $1,300 per month in income, and stated desire to be self-supporting); In re Marriage of Weisbart, 39 Colo. App. 115, 564 P.2d 961 (1977 (son was employed full-time with construction company earning $480 per month, he resided in his own apartment with a female roommate, and mother gave him no financial support; father’s obligation terminated due to son’s emancipation); Poudre Valley Hospital District v. Heckart, 491 P. 2d894 (Colo. Ct. App. 1971) (daughter removed herself from her father’s home and went to live with girlfriends); Ison v. Florida Sanitarium and Benevolent Association, 302 So. 2d 200 (Fla. 4th DCA 1974) (18-year-old daughter who moved away from home and supported herself); Ireland v. Ireland, 123 Idaho 955, 855 P.2d 40 (1993) (son became emancipated when he was working full time, he left home to reside with his mother’s boyfriend and he paid rent); Meyer v. Meyer, 222 Ill. App. 3d 357, 583 N.E.2d 716 (1991) (son moved out of house and joined Peace Corps, which provided son with room and board and stipend); In re Marriage of Johnson, 625 N.E.2d 1331 (Ind. Ct. App. 1993) (son who worked full time and lived in own apartment was emancipated); Burton v. Burton, 472 S.W.2d 620 (Mo. Ct. App. 1971) (daughter became emancipated before eighteenth birthday where she left home, got her own apartment, and became a bank teller); Fortunato v. Fortunato, 242 A.D.2d 720, 662 N.Y.S.2d 579 (2d Dep’t 1997) (20-year-old who was working 30-35 hours per week, used his earnings to meet all his own expenses, contributed to room and board in mother’s home, and was not attending school and had no plans to save money for college, was emancipated); Ellis v. Ellis, 52 Or. App. 671, 629 P.2d 417 (1981), affirmed 292 Or. 502, 640 P.2d 1024 (1982) (daughter who worked full time upon graduation from high school, moved into own apartment, purchased care with own credit card, was emancipated).

The same principle can be applied to find a child is emancipated when he or she drops out of school with no intention to returning, with the intention of being free from parental authority. McGregor v. McGregor, 237 Ga. 587, 226 s.W.2d 591 (1976); In re Marriage of Seeba, 480 N.E.2d 960 (Ind. Ct. App. 1985); see also Roe v. Doe, 29 N.Y.2d 188, 324 N.Y.S.2d 71 (1971) (daughter was emancipated when she left dormitory to live off-campus without father’s consent); Blanding v. Southwestern Life Insurance Co., 268 S.C. 306, 233 S.W.2d 107 (1977). The mere act of dropping out of high-school, however, will not usually constitute emancipation. In re Marriage of Donahoe, 114 Ill. App. 3d 470, 448 N.E.2d 1030 (1983); Brancheau v. Weddle, 555 N.E.2d 1315 (Ind. Ct. App. 1990);

A child can also become emancipated if he or she earns his own living, even though he or she remains in a parent’s home. The court’s focus on “self-sufficiency” may lead the court to conclude that even though the child remains in a parent’s home, he or she is actually self-sufficient. This is most often the case where the child treats the parent’s home like a boarding house, paying the parent rent or other expenses. E.g., Hill v. Hill, 523 So. 2d 445 (Ala. Civ. App. 1988); Embree v. Embree, 85 Idaho 43, 380 P.2d 216 (1963); Moody v. Moody, 565 N.E.2d 388 (Ind. Ct. App. 1991); Black v. Cole, 626 S.W.2d 397 (Mo. Ct. App. 1981); Rapplean v. Patterson, 631 S.W.2d 693 (Mo. Ct. App. 1982); Blue v. Blue, 152 Neb. 82, 40 N.W.2d 268 (1949); Townsen v. Townsen, 101 Ohio App. 85, 137 N.E.2d 789 (1954); Matthews v. Matthews, 71 S.D. 115, 22 N.W.2d 27 (1946); Foutch v. Foutch, 2 Wash. App. 407, 469 P.2d 223 (1970).

These cases should be contrasted with the situation where a child leaves home temporarily with no intention to forego a parent’s support. For example, if a child leaves home to attend college but remains dependent on the parents for support, there is no emancipation. E.g., Anderson v. Loper, 689 So. 2d 118 (Ala. Civ. App. 1996) (daughter left home and moved in with boyfriend and his parents to attend college); In re Marriage of Robinson, 629 P.2d 1069 (Colo. 1981) (child’s summer employment and temporary absence from home to earn money for college did not constitute emancipation);Quillen v. Quillen, 671 N.E.2d 98 (Ind. 1996) (temporary absence from home, with intent to return to college; no emancipation found); Daniels v. Daniels, 748 S.W.2d 916 (Mo. Ct. App. 1988) (temporary three month stay at friend’s house when hostility with mother did not constitute emancipation); Braun v. Lied, 851 S.W.2d 93 (Mo. Ct. app. 1993) (daughter who was away at school, although she missed one semester due to medical condition, was not emancipated); Bierman v. Bierman, 584 S.W.2d 106 (Mo. Ct. App. 1979) (daughter at university, paying tuition by scholarship and part-time work; no emancipation); Specking v. Specking, 528 S.W.2d 448 (Mo. Ct. App. 1975) (daughter attending junior college, working part-time, living with older sister; no emancipation). Similarly, students who leave school temporarily to earn some money with the intention that they will return to school are not emancipated by the fact that they are working full-time for a short period of time. Turner v. Turner, 441 S.W.2d 105 (Ky. 1956); Caldwell v. Caldwell, 579 So. 2d 543 (Miss. 1991); Shutt v. Shutt, 133 Misc. 2d 81, 506 N.Y.S.2d 611 (Sup. Ct. 1986).

Although it seems obvious, merely having a part-time job or a job that does not pay enough to support oneself does not constitute emancipation. Taylor v. Taylor, 412 So. 2d 1231 (Ala. Civ. App. 1981); Shuff v. Fulte, 344 Ill. App. 157, 100 N.E.2d 502 (1951); Taylor v. Chaffin, 558 N.E.2d 879 (Ind. Ct. App. 1990); Marshall v. Marshall, 601 N.E.2d 9 (Ind. Ct. App. 1992); In re Marriage of Tearman, 617 N.E.2d 974 (Ind. Ct. App. 1993); Pearson v. Pearson, 247 Iowa 437, 74 N.W.2d 224 (1956); Andrews v. Williams, 723 So.2d 1175 (Miss. Ct. App. 1998); Setser v. Piazza, 664 So. 2d 1211 (Miss. 1994); Orlowski v. Orlowski, 8762 S.W.2d 842 (Mo. Ct. App. 1988).

Finally, in a few cases, the court has held that emancipation was affected by the child’s complete abandonment of the parent-child relationship. In Hambrick v. Prestwood, 382 So. 2d 474 (Miss. 1980), the court held that the father need not support his daughter where she flatly refused to have anything to do with him. Similarly, in Cohen v. Schnepf, 94 a.D.2d 783, 463 N.Y.S.2d 29 (2d Dep’t 1983), the court held that the son’s actions of refusing to visit his father and using his stepfather’s surname on his college applications affected an emancipation. Accord Chamberlin v. Chamberlin, 658 N.Y.S.2d 751 (3d Dep’t 1997); Joseph M.M. Jr. v. Mary Ellen C.M., 227 A.D.2d 561, 642 N.Y.S.2d 713 (2d Dep’t 1996); Rubino v. Morgan, 224 A.D.2d 903, 638 N.Y.S.2d 524 (3d Dep’t 1996) (father released from duty of support of daughter who refused to speak with him for six years); McCarthy v. Braiman, 125 A.D.2d 572, 510 N.Y.S.2d 3 (2d Dep’t 1986); Barbara M. v. Harry M., 117 Misc. 2d 142, 458 N.Y.S.2d 136 (Fam. Ct. 1982); Gross ex rel. Oeler v. Oeler, 527 Pa. 532, 594 A.2d 649 (1991) (father’s obligation to support seventeen-year-old daughter terminated when she refused to live with him after mother moved out of state and instead lived with an unrelated family).

This is a minority position, however. Most courts have held that a child’s hostile conduct toward a parent should not relieve that parent of the duty of support. Carroll v. Carroll, 593 So. 2d 1131 (Fla. 2d DCA 1992); In re Marriage of Brown, 597 N.E.2d 1297 (Ind. Ct. App. 1992); Borden v. Borden, 550 So. 2d 901 (La. Ct. App. 1989); Henshaw v. Henshaw, 83 Mich. App. 68, 268 N.W.2d 289 (1978); Moir v. Kowakowski, 282 Minn. 243, 164 N.W.2d 69 (1969); Caldwell v. Caldwell, 579 So. 2d 543 (Miss. 1991); Hiross v. Hiross, 224 A.D.2d 662, 639 N.Y.S.2d 70 (2d Dep’t 1996); Radin v. Radin, 209 A.D.2d 396, 618 N.Y.S.2d 105 (2d Dep’t 1994); Jaffee v. Jaffee, 202 A.D.2d 264, 608 N.Y.S.2d 649 (1st Dep’t 1994); Drago v. Drago, 138 A.D.2d 704, 526 N.Y.S.2d 518 (2d Dep’t 1988); Yarborough v. Yarborough, 168 S.C. 46, 166 S.E.2d 877 (1932); Broyles v. Broyles, 711 P.2d 1119 (Wyo. 1985). Thus, If a child temporarily leaves home because of a disagreement with the custodial parent, there is also no emancipation. E.g., Bopp v. Bopp, 671 S.W.2d 348 (Mo. Ct. App. 1984) (daughter not emancipated and so adoptive father still owed support when daughter left home to live with natural father); Alice C. v. Bernard G.C., 193 A.D.2d 97, 602 N.Y.S.2d 623 (2d Dep’t 1993); Collins v. Collins, 74 A.D.2d 862, 426 N.Y.S.2d 56 (2d Dep’t 1980); Bates v. Bates, 62 Misc. 2d 498, 310 N.Y.S.2d 26 (Fam. Ct. 1970); Wayne County Dep’t of Social Services v. Schultz, 81 Misc. 2d 603, 366 N.Y.S.2d 845 (Fam. Ct. 1975); Thompson v. Thompson, 94 Misc. 2d 911, 405 N.Y.S.2d 974 (Fam. Ct. 1978); Durfee v. Durfee, 796 P.2d 713 (Utah Ct. App. 1990).