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Emancipation in the State of Oregon

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  • 05-01-2011, 10:34 PM
    SeekingInformation
    Emancipation in the State of Oregon
    My question involves guardianship in the State of: Oregon

    I know this has been posted about before, but from what I have read on this site, my case is particularly unique.

    Basically, I have been seriously considering emancipation for the last six months or so. I am currently 16 (will be turning 17 next month) and I honestly believe my parents to be impairing my scholastic endeavors. Last year I was inducted into the National Honors Society with a 4.0 GPA. This was extremely hard to maintain- not because I am incapable, but because of my parents. This year, I was suspended from the honors society because my GPA dropped below a 3.5. In short, this was the result of a terrible family situation at home. My parents on many, many occasions limited my ability to succeed in school by taking away school supplies, taking away my computer after acknowledging I not only had assignments on it due the next day, but that I need it for school in general (this was because I had stayed at the college library until 12 without their consent working on homework because I could not do it in the environment at home), etc. Overall, the constant fighting and verbal attack I have received from my mother for years has also finally worn me down, and last semester there were many nights that I went to bed without having completed any homework because of being exhausted from defending myself. Additionally, my parents canceled my AP tests, SAT, and ACT this year because they were all "a privilege" for me to take- despite the fact that they are entirely necessary to be accepted to a university. I do not think it will be hard to prove that my parents do not have my best interests in mind.

    Furthermore, I have asked my debate coach and two teachers at school to write me recommendations. I told them it was for an emancipation application, and all three of them stress my responsibleness, my intelligence, my devotion to education, my drive, etc. Additionally, two of the three say that they believe that familiar problems may be inhibiting my performance in school. One of my teachers wrote about a particular situation a few months ago, in which my mother flew into a rage, came to school, and demanded that my teacher give me an F for the current semester, and all preceding semesters as I had "cheated" and did not deserve the A's I received. This was clearly fallacious, and my teacher knew it to be untrue.

    Anyway, many months back I asked a friend to open a bank account for me. I have now saved almost $10,000. This is obviously very little, but I have an online business from which I earn around $2000 a month with. Sometimes a little less, and sometimes much more. I think in a few months I could easily earn another $5000.

    My questions are as follows:
    1.) I have no "stable" job per se. Basically, I buy things online and resell them for a large profit. However, I make a lot of money from this, and I don't see any reason why I cannot continue to make money from this. Will the court look negatively upon this? Will they consider me to be self-sufficient? Whilst living at home, I can not get another job as my parents will not allow me to. This has all been done in secret, which naturally limits the amount of money I have been able to make as well.
    2.) Is my reason for emancipation legitimate? I cannot imagine that a court would not take the impairment of my education seriously, especially with the letters I have detailing its impairment.
    3.) Should I find a lawyer, and if so, how do I go about this?
    4.) A rather silly question, but do I have a chance?


    And one more note... this subject was brought up in an argument, and my mother said that she would sign any forms for my emancipation. However, I don't think that would actually happen. If my parents refuse to consent, is this going to significantly hurt my chances?

    Thank you very much in advance!

    P.S. I paid for the SAT, ACT, and 6 AP tests all with my own money. My parents do not know that I am taking them, or they would probably go to school and cancel them. This should provide added support for my case, as it clearly shows that I take far more initiative in my own future than do my parents (who even try to limit it).

    And terribly sorry for any typos, spelling errors, grammatical mistakes, etc. It is rather late and I have been at the library all day studying (the only calm environment in which I can study).
  • 05-01-2011, 11:31 PM
    cdwjava
    Re: Emancipation in the State of Oreogn
    It may be possible, but you have to understand that your parents may well have another version of events.

    You sound responsible, articulate, and intelligent. That's why I am curious why your parents would behave this way ... it makes me wonder what else might be going on.

    In any event, here is a pamphlet from an organization in Multnomah County that explains the process rather well:

    http://www.jrplaw.org/documents/eman...y%20oregon.pdf

    And the technical stuff:

    http://minors.uslegal.com/emancipati...-of-minor-law/
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