17 year old wanting to move out

[Thalia Maria]

Jurisdiction

Missouri

So I am a 17 year old female and I live in Missouri. My parents are separated and my mom is trying to make me move in with her but my dad wants to keep me in his house hold but the thing is neither of them are good enough parents to take care of me. I want to move out and live with my friend in an apartment until next year when I move out for college. I have a stable job that I've had for six months. I really think I should move out but I don't want my parents to file for a run away report and me missing out on a good college. I just need a straight forward answer and what i need to do.

 

[adjusterjack]

I just need a straight forward answer and what i need to do.

Here's the straight forward answer:

You're a minor. You stay put until there is a court order saying different.

It's that simple.

 

[shrinkmaster]

You dont have a legal avenue to pursue here. Your 17 hang in there a few months then your off to College

 

[leslie82]

So I am a 17 year old female and I live in Missouri. My parents are separated and my mom is trying to make me move in with her but my dad wants to keep me in his house hold but the thing is neither of them are good enough parents to take care of me. I want to move out and live with my friend in an apartment until next year when I move out for college. I have a stable job that I've had for six months. I really think I should move out but I don't want my parents to file for a run away report and me missing out on a good college. I just need a straight forward answer and what i need to do.

How long until you turn 18? Wait until then. You aren't going to get emancipated.

 

[cbg]

The very MINUTE you turn 18, you can move out and live anywhere you want to. Until then, you live where your parents say you live.

 

[army judge]

Again, another one Sheesh.....

 

[mightymoose]

Whichever parent has legal custody of you is the one you live with.
Don't make things difficult on yourself. If you become delinquent, runaway, etc your parents could easily make you regret it.
If you like having your job and earning some income don't do anything foolish. You have that job because your parents allow it. They can end it for you if they wish. Don't give them reason.

 

[AmberJewell]

This is the second post I've seen where people are uneducated about the laws in Missouri giving 17 year olds false information.
As a guardian who has dealt with this I assure you at 17 you can leave and police CANNOT be forced by law to make you come back home. I know this because I had full guardianship over my brother and at 17 he decided we were too strict and he wants to move out. I called police to ask if they could do anything about it and they said he's an adult at 17 and can move where he pleases but I am still responsible financially and legally of him until he was 18. They told me the only way they would contact me once he was gone is if he got in trouble and the police got involved that they would bring him back to my house or call me to bail him out. Otherwise, he was free at 17. Not 18. 17. So move if you want to move your parents cannot do anything about it. BTW this was the Liberty Missouri Police Dept that told me this if anyone is asking.

 

[cbg]

No, that is still not correct. SOME police in SOME TX and MO jurisdictions are reluctant to return home a 17 year old who is in a same place.

I invite you to show us the laws - not what a police officer told you - but the actual statute, that gives a 17 year old the right to leave home, if you disagree.

 

[zddoodah]

As a guardian who has dealt with this I assure you at 17 you can leave and police CANNOT be forced by law to make you come back home. I know this because I had full guardianship over my brother and at 17 he decided we were too strict and he wants to move out. I called police to ask if they could do anything about it and they said he's an adult at 17 and can move where he pleases

So...based on this single, hypothetical situation involving one out of hundreds of police departments in a single state, you think you know the law better than the rest of us?

And you resurrected a 10 month old thread in order to display your ignorance and lack of logical reasoning.

Well...alrighty then.

 

[leslie82]

This is the second post I've seen where people are uneducated about the laws in Missouri giving 17 year olds false information.
As a guardian who has dealt with this I assure you at 17 you can leave and police CANNOT be forced by law to make you come back home. I know this because I had full guardianship over my brother and at 17 he decided we were too strict and he wants to move out. I called police to ask if they could do anything about it and they said he's an adult at 17 and can move where he pleases but I am still responsible financially and legally of him until he was 18. They told me the only way they would contact me once he was gone is if he got in trouble and the police got involved that they would bring him back to my house or call me to bail him out. Otherwise, he was free at 17. Not 18. 17. So move if you want to move your parents cannot do anything about it. BTW this was the Liberty Missouri Police Dept that told me this if anyone is asking.

Your situation isn't representative of all situations. Not all police respond the same.

"The legal age to move out in Missouri is 18. An anomaly in the law means that many police agencies will be reluctant to return home a 17 year old who is in a safe place."

That's key - it doesn't say all. It says many are reluctant to return a 17 year old in a SAFE place. That doesn't mean they won't - and key word is safe place.

Also (from another post on here that was similar):
"In Missouri, a child that runs away (absents himself or herself from the parental home without parental authority) is committing a Status Offense:
–
an act committed by a child that would not be considered a crime if committed by an adult but that may subject
the child to juvenile or family court jurisdiction. Those acts include: truancy, beyond parental control, runaway, behavior and associations injurious to the welfare, and other acts that are applicable only to children. See Section 211.031(2), Revised Statutes of Missouri. " (That answer came from a lawyer who still posts on here).

If you had wanted to you could have went and gotten your kid and dragged him home and no one could stop you. AND the people who had let him stay with them could have been in trouble legally for harboring a runaway. So that's your fault you didn't just go get your kid.

There is nothing in Missouri law that prevents a parent from getting their kid who has runaway. The police may not do anything - but the parents can do something.

Bottomline: The age of majority is 18 in Missouri. A person can leave home of their own free will at 18 and the parents cannot stop them or retrieve them. Period.