Wanting to be emancipated

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ihatethiss

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I want to be emancipated from my mother because she has mental issues. My father and she were never married and so he is not in the picture at all. My mother has been diagnosed with, paranoia, depression, and anxiety. She does not take her medication correctly. One of the main problems is that she never believes me; she always yells at me and tells me that I am drinking, doing drugs, or having sex. She even took me to the gynecologist to see if I was still a virgin and the next day, after not seeing my boyfriend because he was in another state for soccer tells me that I have had sex, even after the gynecologist said that I had not. She still does not believe me. This all came about when someone wrote "murder" backward on our house. Then my mom started to think that someone was out to kill her. My boyfriend, who has been there through all of this, and I started dating about a month before this happened. Then my mom starts thinking it is him. She said the food doesn't taste the same, there is something on her pillows, and people are following her. She starts not going to work. She is too scared to live in our house, even with an ADT alarm system; she still thinks someone comes in at night. So she had me live with my boyfriend, at the time of three months, for 6 days and 7 nights. I did not see my mom during that time. My boyfriend, two years older than me and a freshman in college, national honors society, and plays college sports, would take me to school then he would go to class and pick me up take me to work if needed and pick me up then help me with my homework. Then two weeks after my mom has him do that, I go to visit a friend of mine in Florida, where I am now desperate for help, and the third day I am there she calls me and tells me I am going to live there until who knows when. She and my "friend" here say that my boyfriend is a drug dealer and does drugs when I know he doesn't and never has. He also gets tested at college and has never failed. No one from where he and I went to high school believes my mom. But she says that I am here because she cannot take care of me. So, she gave temporary custody to these people down here until this summer when she says I will now come home. They, the people I am living with and my mother, will not let me talk to any of my friends from WV and will not let me talk to my boyfriend. The only way I did was about 3 months ago they left me alone for 5 minutes and I asked a random person in the mall for his cell phone and called my boyfriend. They will not let me do anything. I am so scared and do not know if my mom will ever be able to take care of me. My boyfriend's mom said I could live with her when I had thought about this before if I ever did. I want to do that, and it would only be for a year then I could live with my boyfriend once I turned 18. My mom has told me she is not a mother and I have a job and make good grades and play high school sports. She is not fit to take care of a child, let alone a teenage girl. I am from West Virginia, just currently living in Florida with a "friend" and her parents. They are absolutely no relation to me other than "friends". I am 16 I will turn 17 in July of this year. My father is more than likely in Maryland, but I don't know. I talked to him about 6 months ago now. Again because the people I am staying with will not let me talk to anyone. They took my cell phone, the only way he had to contact me, and it has been turned off and taken from me since a few days before Thanksgiving. I cannot go be with my father because he has been under house arrest many times and it was for drugs. He has been to jail as well. My parents were never married, and he left us about the time I was 6 or so. As for the self supporting I could. I have a large amount of money in the bank, and I am working while here in Florida at a Finish Line as I was at home, in WV, before I left, and not spending hardly any of the money. It is all being saved so i can leave my mom. I already paid for my own clothes, food; the only thing I do not have is a car, but I'm sure I could find one and also cover the insurance. PLEASE help me and tell me what to do!!! Thanks
 
If you are in Florida, the ONLY way emancipation is even remotely possible is if your parent or legal guardian files the petition. You CANNOT file it on your own. You CANNOT be emancipated any other way.

Even if the parent or legal guardian will file the petition, that's not a guarantee of emancipation, but their failure to do so is an insurmountable barrier to it.
 
re:

I am in Florida right now because my mother could not cope with her own problems. I will be back in West Virginia after the school year ends here. So that will be around the end of May and the begining of June. Do you think there is anyway I could get away from my mother. I had told her that I didn't want to be with her about 7 months ago and she was going to sign emanciation papers and let me live with my aunt in Maryland. I just have no idea how this works. The only thing I do know is that she is not fit to raise me, or anyone for that matter. She has taken me away from all my friends, and left me down here. She visited over Christmas and that is all. I get a phone call from time to time. What mother will leave her daughter like that not even with family??? Also, she took me away from the one person in this world that actually cared, that I felt safe with, that would and did take care of me when she did not, my bofriend, whom I was going to marry. My mother knew that and was okay with that before her breakdown. My boyfriend is waiting on me and I want to be with him over my mom or any other family member. He is the only person to ever actually treat me like a person, honor me, never ask for anything. We dated for over 4 months and he never asked me to do ANYTHING, let alone sex. He is two years older and in his first year in college. I know I have to be able to show I can live on my own and support myself and I can. I basically have since I was 12 years old. I made and bought my own food, did everything for myself. The only thing my mom gave me was a bed to sleep in. I love her because she is my mom, but I cannot believe she is doing this to me. PLEASE there has to be a way I can get away from her and get on with my life. Especially with my boyfriend, I miss him so much. PLEASE HELP!
 
In order to be emancipated in West Virginia (or, frankly, any state) you are going to need a much better reason than wanting to be with your boyfriend. There isn't a judge in the US that will emancipate a minor for that reason. Nor is wanting to get away from your mom going to be sufficient unto itself - all teens want to get away from their parents, and you are hardly the only teen in the US who has a parent with mental health issues.

If your mom is willing to let you live in Maryland with your aunt, you do not need emancipation for that. Emancipation does not mean "divorcing" your parents and living with someone else; it means that you are 100% responsible, financially, for yourself. That means you pay for rent, food, clothes, transportation, utilities, insurance, medical care, internet connection, shampoo, shoes, school supplies, and everything else you want/need, while simultaneously going to school and keeping your grades up.

Since you are sixteen you are old enough to file the petition, but I'm not going to lie to you and tell you that it's likely it will be granted.

Let me give you an example.

In the year 2005, in the state of Georgia, there were tens of thousands of applications for emancipation. Do you know how many were approved? The answer is twelve.

No, not twelve thousand. Not twelve hundred. Twelve. Ten fingers and two toes.

Additionally, the GA legislature found that 12 was too high. So they changed the law to make it even harder.

We don't have enough facts here to judge the merits of your individual situation. But getting emancipated as a minor is hard. It's supposed to be hard. The standard to prove that you are capable of and mature enough to live on your own is incredibly high. Very, very few children (and I don't mean that insultingly, but it's what you are) are capable of meeting it.

Emancipation was never intended to be a means for a teenager to leave home. It was intended to be a method for those kids who, through circumstances beyond their control, were ALREADY on their own, to sign contracts and leases. It wasn't intended to be a way for you to get out of the house; it was intended to be a way for kids who found themselves on their own to be able to protect themselves.
 
Re:

I understand. So you are saying I could go and live with someone else? To what extent does that cover? To whom may I go and live with, and what does my mother have to do to make this happen; since the actuallity of me being able to get the emancipation is VERY slim? The information is much appreciated.
 
If your mother gives you permission, yes, you can go and live with someone else. But you can't do it without her permission.

You may go and live with anyone who is willing to have you AND with whom your mother is willing to have you live. An aunt, a grandmother, a trusted friend of the family.

She would not necessarily have to transfer custody to whomever it is, but they would need to have some kind of power of attorney that would allow them to enroll you in school, get you medical attention if needed, etc. There may be state law that would determine exactly what is needed, but that's something she should clarify with a family law attorney in your state - I don't know WV law.
 
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