Emancipation/marriage

[Austin727]

Jurisdiction

Tennessee

Questions regarding tennessee law

She is 16 (and pregnant),He is 18
She would like to get emancipated (or married whichever is easier to achieve) her parents are divorced both are substance abusers.
Her mother who is also a compulsive liar refuses to sign for her to get married while her father will sign.

The 18 year old she would like to marry is financially stable and willing to assume all responsibility for her and their child. She also would like to continue out her schooling through an online program so she could work and earn money to go towards secondary schooling and other costs associated with day to day life (which her mother also takes issue with). Living conditions at her mother and fathers homes are also a large concern along with many other factors such as her mother insisting, That the baby not take the fathers last name etc.

What are their best legal options.

 

[cbg]

To wait until she is 18. Since there is no possibility whatsoever that a pregnant 16 year old, who does not have her mother's permission to leave home, will be either emancipated or married.

She will be allowed to leave home before the age of 18 under two, and only two, circumstances. One is if she is permitted by her mother to leave. The other is if the state removes her from the home. If the second transpires, she will live where the state says she lives and it will involve neither marriage nor emancipation; it will involve foster care or a group home.

Do not bother coming back to tell us all the reasons why this situation is different. It isn't. The law is not going to change for your convenience.

 

[mightymoose]

Ditto.
Without parental permission she stays home and unmarried.
Parents have the means to make life very complicated for the 18 year old. Best to abide by parents wishes and make the best of it.

 

[Austin727]

Ditto.
Without parental permission she stays home and unmarried.
Parents have the means to make life very complicated for the 18 year old. Best to abide by parents wishes and make the best of it.

Maybe so, however I know marriage with a court order is an option and given the circumstances her being declared unfit to be a parent would not be an outlandish option was just wondering others opinions on possible options

 

[Austin727]

To wait until she is 18. Since there is no possibility whatsoever that a pregnant 16 year old, who does not have her mother's permission to leave home, will be either emancipated or married.

She will be allowed to leave home before the age of 18 under two, and only two, circumstances. One is if she is permitted by her mother to leave. The other is if the state removes her from the home. If the second transpires, she will live where the state says she lives and it will involve neither marriage nor emancipation; it will involve foster care or a group home.

Do not bother coming back to tell us all the reasons why this situation is different. It isn't. The law is not going to change for your convenience.

Let me make this clear the local judge has already told us that the above mentioned options are in fact viable options. I was merely asking which option would be easier to acheive. No offense to you but I beleive a judge when he tells me something can be done about the situation from a legal standpoint and given the fact that every court case is situational. This situation could in fact be "different" the above mentioned fact mentioned one parent was very much willing to sign now I fail to understand how if the other parent lost parental rights that their would be anything stopping the marriage? And given the fact that said parent abused narcotics I also fail to see how that is some sort of outlandish and unachievable goal? Also I very clearly stated the parents are divorced so if states custody got involved am I somehow wrong to assume full custody would go to the other parent.

 

[mightymoose]

however I know marriage with a court order is an option

I'm not sure what you are thinking here. It certainly is not an option. No court will order a child to marry.

the local judge has already told us that the above mentioned options are in fact viable options.

If that is true, I suspect you misunderstood something. In fact, it is illegal for anyone under 17 to get married at all in Tennessee.

Gov. Bill Haslam signs law banning Tennessee marriage of minors under 17

am I somehow wrong to assume full custody would go to the other parent.

What you do not understand is that it has nothing at all to do with custody. A combinatonon- parent still has rights regarding their child. Even dope addicted prisoners.

The simple answer to your question is that marriage before 18 is very unlikely.
Visit a local attorney to get the best answers to your specific situation, but don't count on it being much different from what you are hearing here.

 

[cbg]

I do not believe for one moment that a judge told you anything of the kind.

 

[shrinkmaster]

If you spoke to a Judge why are you here? Regardless marriage will require parental consent. Emancipation of a pregnant minor has about a ZERO chance of being successful as emancipation without this condition has a less than 1% success rate nationally.

Teen emancipation | Parent Nook

 

[leslie82]

Questions regarding tennessee law

She is 16 (and pregnant),He is 18
She would like to get emancipated (or married whichever is easier to achieve) her parents are divorced both are substance abusers.
Her mother who is also a compulsive liar refuses to sign for her to get married while her father will sign.

The 18 year old she would like to marry is financially stable and willing to assume all responsibility for her and their child. She also would like to continue out her schooling through an online program so she could work and earn money to go towards secondary schooling and other costs associated with day to day life (which her mother also takes issue with). Living conditions at her mother and fathers homes are also a large concern along with many other factors such as her mother insisting, That the baby not take the fathers last name etc.

What are their best legal options.

If you're the 18 year old and you got her pregnant you could be charged with statutory rape - the age of consent in TN is 18. So you or your "friend" should just stay away from this teen.

If she needs consent from one parent to get married and neither parent is willing to give it - then guess what? She's waiting til she's 18 to get married. She will not be able to get married or be emancipated.

She only gets to make decisions on HER child once it is born. That's it. So she can decide what to name it, what medical care it gets, so on. No one else gets to decide, not grandparents, not unmarried males who haven't established their paternity on a child and have no rights.

"If either party is under the age of 18, they must be accompanied by his/her parents.Tennessee law does not permit those under the age of 16 to marry without a court order." Sorry - she's not getting married and she's not getting emancipated until she's 18.

 

[leslie82]

Maybe so, however I know marriage with a court order is an option and given the circumstances her being declared unfit to be a parent would not be an outlandish option was just wondering others opinions on possible options

Lol no man. No. Just no. Her mother is not going to be declared unfit and even IF she were - the minor would go into state custody. And she still wouldn't be allowed to marry you.

There are no options. None. The only option YOU have is to just stay away until that girl is 18 years old. If you go and establish paternity when the kid is born and you're 18 and she's 16 - you could be charged with statutory rape.

You and she have NO legal options for emancipation. None.

 

[leslie82]

Let me make this clear the local judge has already told us that the above mentioned options are in fact viable options. I was merely asking which option would be easier to acheive. No offense to you but I beleive a judge when he tells me something can be done about the situation from a legal standpoint and given the fact that every court case is situational. This situation could in fact be "different" the above mentioned fact mentioned one parent was very much willing to sign now I fail to understand how if the other parent lost parental rights that their would be anything stopping the marriage? And given the fact that said parent abused narcotics I also fail to see how that is some sort of outlandish and unachievable goal? Also I very clearly stated the parents are divorced so if states custody got involved am I somehow wrong to assume full custody would go to the other parent.

No judge told you that. If he or she did they were wrong. She will not get emancipated because it doesn't sound like she's self sufficent and on her own. Getting pregnant as a teen does not emancipate you. ALSO - in TN one parent has to be there with the minor, sign an affidavit approving them getting married AND there be a court order. Those are all facts. That's the law.

If there's one parent willing to sign who has any custody, then that parent can. Omg her mom is NOT going to be declared unfit and her mom is NOT going to lose her rights. It doesn't matter if her mom or dad have done drugs - if there is no evidence of abuse or neglect to the minor than she is not going to get removed. And again IF she got removed from the home she's going to either another family member or state care. Edit - it seems TN law states that no one under 17 can get married in TN to anyone.

Okay her parents are divorced - who has legal custody? If the mom does, the dad can't sign anything. If they share legal custody then he could approve it.

You are wrong to assume sole custody would go to the other parent automatically if the state got involved. It wouldn't.

You are in WAY over your head guy. Leave it alone til she's 18 unless you wanna piss of her mom and she calls the cops on you for statutory rape. You wanna go to prison for her?

 

[leslie82]

I'm not sure what you are thinking here. It certainly is not an option. No court will order a child to marry.



If that is true, I suspect you misunderstood something. In fact, it is illegal for anyone under 17 to get married at all in Tennessee.

Gov. Bill Haslam signs law banning Tennessee marriage of minors under 17



What you do not understand is that it has nothing at all to do with custody. A combinatonon- parent still has rights regarding their child. Even dope addicted prisoners.

The simple answer to your question is that marriage before 18 is very unlikely.
Visit a local attorney to get the best answers to your specific situation, but don't count on it being much different from what you are hearing here.

That's good to know on the new law - because a the Davidson County court page about marriage licenses still states that in TN you can get married at 16 with guardian or parent permission. But seems to be not the case.

 

[mightymoose]

If you're the 18 year old and you got her pregnant you could be charged with statutory rape - the age of consent in TN is 18.

Ditto.
Tennessee law is not friendly to this situation, even with the small age gap. Whether or not it would be prosecuted is another question. An angry parent demanding action could certainly set things in motion.

 

[Austin727]

If you're the 18 year old and you got her pregnant you could be charged with statutory rape - the age of consent in TN is 18. So you or your "friend" should just stay away from this teen.

If she needs consent from one parent to get married and neither parent is willing to give it - then guess what? She's waiting til she's 18 to get married. She will not be able to get married or be emancipated.

She only gets to make decisions on HER child once it is born. That's it. So she can decide what to name it, what medical care it gets, so on. No one else gets to decide, not grandparents, not unmarried males who haven't established their paternity on a child and have no rights.

"If either party is under the age of 18, they must be accompanied by his/her parents.Tennessee law does not permit those under the age of 16 to marry without a court order." Sorry - she's not getting married and she's not getting emancipated until she's 18.

No you can not and I do know this for a FACT romeo and juliet protects anyone with a 4 year or less age gap.

 

[Austin727]

I do not believe for one moment that a judge told you anything of the kind.

Beleive what you would like just so happens the local judge is a family friend

 

[Austin727]

No judge told you that. If he or she did they were wrong. She will not get emancipated because it doesn't sound like she's self sufficent and on her own. Getting pregnant as a teen does not emancipate you. ALSO - in TN one parent has to be there with the minor, sign an affidavit approving them getting married AND there be a court order. Those are all facts. That's the law.

If there's one parent willing to sign who has any custody, then that parent can. Omg her mom is NOT going to be declared unfit and her mom is NOT going to lose her rights. It doesn't matter if her mom or dad have done drugs - if there is no evidence of abuse or neglect to the minor than she is not going to get removed. And again IF she got removed from the home she's going to either another family member or state care. Edit - it seems TN law states that no one under 17 can get married in TN to anyone.

Okay her parents are divorced - who has legal custody? If the mom does, the dad can't sign anything. If they share legal custody then he could approve it.

You are wrong to assume sole custody would go to the other parent automatically if the state got involved. It wouldn't.

You are in WAY over your head guy. Leave it alone til she's 18 unless you wanna piss of her mom and she calls the cops on you for statutory rape. You wanna go to prison for her?

I didn't know horrid living conditions did not constitute neglect?

 

[mightymoose]

I didn't know horrid living conditions did not constitute neglect?

They don't. "Horrid living conditions" is subjective. You didn't give details on living conditions, but in my experience I can tell you that such complaints are almost always determined to be unfounded.

 

[mightymoose]

No you can not and I do know this for a FACT romeo and juliet protects anyone with a 4 year or less age gap.

That only protects from allegations of rape. I bet at least two or three other offenses could apply where the age won't protect the perpetrator.
One such offense, for example, is contributing to the delinquency of a minor- which is exactly what you are doing if you are actively encouraging her to do anything against her parent's wishes.
Look out if police should have justification to search your or her electronic devices... And double watch out if she is ever put in a position by her parents where she has to answer an investigator's questions.
Messing with minors is dangerous, and you put your personal liberty at risk.

 

[army judge]

Thread closed. No need to encourage child molesters and their sexual abuse of minors.

Do not open another thread inquiring how to molest minors LEGALLY.