19 year old truancy

[Tracy73]

Jurisdiction

Pennsylvania

Hello, I have a daughter who moved out shortly after turning 18 to another town with her boyfriend and the school over there wouldn't admit her unless I registered her, so i did. Well she has not turned in several excuses and they are sending me letters threatening me with truancy court and fines. My daughter turned 19 last September am I legally liable, can i be fined in court?

 

[army judge]

Hello, I have a daughter who moved out shortly after turning 18 to another town with her boyfriend and the school over there wouldn't admit her unless I registered her, so i did. Well she has not turned in several excuses and they are sending me letters threatening me with truancy court and fines. My daughter turned 19 last September am I legally liable, can i be fined in court?

It might be easier to contact the person sending you letters and inform him/her that the child is now a 19 year old adult and you no longer have any legal responsibility for her as an adult.
She no longer resides in your home, and you no longer support her in any way.

It might even be more effective if you visited in person and asserted the same facts.
Whatever you do, don't sit back and do nothing, because the fines and costs will begin to mount.

I've found it rarely works out to a parent's advantage to accommodate the ridiculous requests of teenagers.

 

[ElleMD]

I can't look upthe specifics right now but your state does have new legislation that removes the age cap on truancy violations. If you signed as the responsible party and enrolled the student, you are responsible.

 

[adjusterjack]

The following article explains PA's new truancy law of 11/3/16:

http://www.elc-pa.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/New-Truancy-Law_ELC-Analysis-1-10-17.pdf

Note that the new provisions take effect for the 2017-2018 school year which I take to mean starting next fall.

Until then it seems that the compulsory age limit is still 17 although it's not clear from the article that it changes next year.

Good luck trying to find any of the statutes mentioned. PA statutes are hopelessly disorganized.