Can a Runaway Get Emancipated in Colorado

My question involves juvenile law in the State of: Colorado

My daughter has recently run away. She has not come home yet. In the note she left, she stated she wanted to become emancipated. I read the other threads on emancipation, and since they are a few years old, I was wondering if an attorney here could post an update. Has Colorado's recognition of emancipation changed since 2008 (the last post on this subject)? If so, how?

My daughter's father and I are divorced. She ran from her father's house. I have told her several times that she can come live with me, I would love to have her and would help her however I could to get her life back on track. Will the state allow her to emancipate if there is a parent willing to take her in that has a non-abusive and stable home to provide her?

Thank you.

You need a custody modification, not emancipation (which your daughter wouldn't be able to do anyway).

http://www.courts.state.co.us/Courts...Youth/Laws.cfm

That's what I was thinking. Sometimes I just need a second opinion so I don't think I'm crazy. LOL

Next question -

Colorado law says that at age 14 the minor can decide which parent they want to live with. I don't remember if there are any conditions placed on that (ie - mental health, ability to make decisions in their own best-interest, etc.)

My daughter is 16, and bi-polar. When she takes her meds, she is medicated. When she wants to stop taking them, she does, and things like this happen.

So, her being 16 vs what the state says about age 14 - How would I go about basically overriding the states decision that my daughter can make her own choice of who to live with?

Colorado does not actually allow a 14 year old to choose. At 14, during an initial custody determination, the 14 year old's wishes may be heard.

After that though, her choice doesn't really enter into the equation unless as part of a modification petition.

Ok. I guess I have been misunderstanding that piece of it for quite a few years then. Thank you for the clarification.

I will get the papers drawn up and her father and I will meet and he can choose to do this the easy way or the hard way. I have some leverage on him, so we will probably be able to just sign them and do a non-appearance like we have done in the past.

Thank you so much for your help! I really appreciate it!

Slow down Mom.

If you have "leverage" that would paint him in a bad light and you haven't bothered to do anything about it thus far, what makes you think the court will care?

More to the point though, what's your change of circumstance?

You're coming off as wanting to ambush Dad. I would strongly advise against that.

Dad has 1 domestic violence charge against him from several years ago. And several recent police reports, with no charges. I have copies of all of it.

I have spoken with my daughter's therapist about writing a letter to the court, giving her professional opinion on my daughter's capabilities (or lack thereof) to make decisions for herself.

I don't have the health problems that her father has.

I don't have the job-hopping issues her father has, which means I don't have the money issues her father has leading to him not being able to clothe her appropriately (even though I pay him child support and am current on it).

I don't have a history of changing addresses the way he does every year.

He doesn't have the money for an attorney, and if it comes down to it, I do. He financially can't afford a court battle right now, not with his impending divorce from wife #2.

It's not a matter of painting him in a bad light in the courts. It's a matter of letting him know what I know, letting him know what I can prove and what I will hand over to an attorney if he really wants to fight me on this, and then letting him make the right decision to sign the papers stating that we still have joint responsibility but her primary residence is changing to me from him.

The courts may not care.

The police certainly don't care whenever I or my daughter calls them for her father being abusive. The school administration is the same way.

Her father is very good about knowing how to fly under the radar - grabbing an arm and throwing someone on the carpet generally doesn't leave a mark for the authorities to see, especially when it takes them hours to respond.

So, it's a matter of convincing him that he doesn't want this battle to hit his less than full wallet. It's a gamble, a bluff. Not sure what else I can do at this point.

Charges won't count for much. Convictions count.

Dad's health is largely irrelevant unless he becomes completely unable to care for himself, let alone a child.

There's a bigger issue though. Your daughter is obviously out of line at the moment - many judges simply refuse to "reward" the child for behaving badly.

Honestly? I think you'll be tilting at windmills. Doing it in such an underhanded manner is not going to end well for you, either. The courts tend to frown upon blackmail and shady dealings.

Dad doesn't need money at this point; given what you've said here, there's no reason for the court to change custody. There is no fight. There is no battle. It likely wouldn't even pass first muster.

Maybe Dad will post elsewhere though, so we can assist him too.

Quote:

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Quoting Dogmatique

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Charges won't count for much. Convictions count.

Dad's health is largely irrelevant unless he becomes completely unable to care for himself, let alone a child.

There's a bigger issue though. Your daughter is obviously out of line at the moment - many judges simply refuse to "reward" the child for behaving badly.

Honestly? I think you'll be tilting at windmills. Doing it in such an underhanded manner is not going to end well for you, either. The courts tend to frown upon blackmail and shady dealings.

Dad doesn't need money at this point; given what you've said here, there's no reason for the court to change custody. There is no fight. There is no battle. It likely wouldn't even pass first muster.

Maybe Dad will post elsewhere though, so we can assist him too.

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Mom's way of expressing herself is somewhat distasteful but clearly there are some issues with the daughter and with dad, and SOMETHING needs to be done. I definitely see a change in circumstances...the child is bipolar and off her meds, running away and dad is in the middle of a divorce.

I don't see any indication here that the child ran away TO mom...in fact, it's pretty clear that she did not. Therefore changing custody to mom would not really be "rewarding" the child for running away. In fact, since her note said she wanted to be emancipated, I suspect that being in mom's custody is not what the child wants either.

Re-read her first post.

Seriously.