[pominax]

my wife's 16-year-old niece in arkansas is having some problems with being harrassed by an ex-boyfriend who goes to her school. the niece can't get any support from her parents (who have serious problems of their own ... crystal meth, among others), and she spends hours every day on the phone with my wife, desperate for advice and support and help.

the niece wants very much to come to texas and live with us, at least until the end of the school year, and we have the room and the commitment to help her through her problem time. everyone in the family, as well as the school counselor, is in favor of letting her do that ... except her father. he is spiteful and controlling, and more interested in proving that he makes the rules than in taking care of his daughter's welfare.

no steps have been taken to effect this move, because no one seems to know what to do or how to do it, and we understand that we will probably only get one chance, so we had better do it right.

my question is: does this niece have any right to decide who she wants to live with, and is there any legal process that she can pursue to override her father's control, if he is unwilling to let her move?

thanks!

[Mr. Knowitall]

She's a minor, so her parents get to decide where she lives.

The Arkansas emancipation statutes (removal of the disability of minority) relate largely to enabling the minor to enter into contractual relationships as if he or she were an adult, and don't speak to parental control. There may be a mechanism to emancipate from a parent in the sense of no longer being in that parent's custody, but the statutes don't really seem to speak to it.