Can I Get Emancipated if I'm Stressed at Home

My question involves juvenile law in the State of:Oregon
As I am becoming more and more understanding of my home environment it has come to my attention emancipation may be necessary so I have been looking into qualifications for emancipation. I am 15 about to be 16, which in Oregon is the minimum legal age for emancipation and I found that I meet most requirements except my home life is honestly not terrible. Don't get me wrong I love my parents, but my dad is a "recovering" alcoholic who tends to have multiple "slip-ups" in which he then proceeds to angrily, vulgarly, verbally abuse me while throwing things, usually unprovoked.(I won't go into detail unless necessary) Other than these slip ups my parents give me pretty much everything I need and I would even go as far to say they try to "buy my love". The only thing is the stress and tension of waiting for another one to happen is destroying me mentally and i'm starting to become depressed again. Not to mention I can easily count how many words each parent has said to me this week. They have also been relying on me to get food in the evenings as they have decided to not leave the house unless absolutely necessary. So some friends invited me to move in with them a few towns over and i'm just wondering if this "situation" would be enough to qualify me for this process?Thank you for taking the time to read this story.

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So some friends invited me to move in with them a few towns over and i'm just wondering if this "situation" would be enough to qualify me for this process?

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Nope. If your parents are fine with the arrangement, they can give you permission, no emancipation required.

Elsewise, no, you're not a candidate for emancipation at all. You are not self-supporting, and if you're already crabbing about getting supper together, what do you think it will be like when you're responsible for 100% of everything, every day, for the rest of your life?

Not to sound harsh, but the Grocery Fairy doesn't just show up and do your shopping and cooking for you, and the Dishes Fairy won't do the washing up, either.

I was simply giving this information as an example of one of the many things they have me do for them already. It's not really a complaint but more of a perspective on how they ask me to play parent. Even though I do, they still make up reasons to trash me because they are unhappy with their own lives. For example my dad once got extremely wasted and decided he would try to shoot himself in front of us. He would have gone through with it had I not called the police. I was only 10 at that time so as you can imagine there have been many more traumatic events before and since then. I'm really not trying to come off as a whiny person who can't get along with their parents like every other teen out there.

I hate to break this to you, but it's neither unusual nor unreasonable for a teenage son or daughter of the house to be required to create the occasional meal or do some of the cleaning. I was - voluntarily - making supper for my family of six when I was eleven. And cleaning up afterwards. And babysitting my younger siblings into the bargain. And didn't think a thing of it.

No. You are not a candidate for emancipation. If you had done any of the reading on this site that you are asked to do, you'd know why not.

Did you even read this? Obviously I would not leave this house because I have to do all the chores. That I don't mind as I am indeed grateful for what they have given me but at the same time I find it extremely inappropriate for my dad to harass me on a weekly basis which believe me harass makes the things he does and say seem nice. As I am aware i'm not as bad off as others I know at this point I would be better off on my own, as I am able to provide for myself if that wasn't clear and have a better education.

Still doesn't change the legalities of it.

Tell us how much you earn as a 15 year old.

I am able to train horses which if you were unaware can make more than enough money to buy necessities, especially since I already have a future and stable home to move to. I will also be looking for work outside of training while there. Honestly I am trying to figure out how to make this work because I guarantee you I would not be looking into this if I was not motivated, so if you still have doubts about my abilities please feel free to voice them as you are just making me think through this more thoroughly than I would be able to on my own.

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In case there is any confusion i'm not planning on pursuing emancipation until I turn 16...

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Quoting Sarah Middleton

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I am able to train horses which if you were unaware can make more than enough money to buy necessities, especially since I already have a future and stable home to move to. I will also be looking for work outside of training while there. Honestly I am trying to figure out how to make this work because I guarantee you I would not be looking into this if I was not motivated, so if you still have doubts about my abilities please feel free to voice them as you are just making me think through this more thoroughly than I would be able to on my own.

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In case there is any confusion i'm not planning on pursuing emancipation until I turn 16...

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And herein lies the problem.

You must show the court at the time the petition is heard that you are ALREADY capable of supporting yourself without having to live with other people.

This is why it's easy to believe that you haven't researched the matter at all. You'd already know this.

And even at 16, if you are not ALREADY living on your own and paying all of your own support (not living with another family and paying a token rent to them) you won't even get your petition heard, let alone approved.

If you had done any research at all, you would have read the following many, many times: Emancipation is not and never was intended to be a means to allow a minor to leave a bad situation. It was and is intended to be a means to provide legal protections to those minors who, for reasons outside their own control, found themselves living on their own.

There was a time when I had a steady job and was paying for all my expenses (except rent) because our family was hurting for money and I wanted to help out. Which would include electronics, food, clothes, hygiene stuff, etc... I am very confident I can do that again especially since I am older now and can expand my range of jobs. Like I said I am not looking to be emancipated right this moment. I have been thinking about it for awhile and have decided to look into it. From some of the information I have read so far, made it sound as though emancipation was for minors in bad situations who were able to provide for themselves. I came to this forum to find out more about emancipation before meeting with someone I know who has been, to see if it is a possibility for me.

Also what you said about living completely on your own is not completely true as I know multiple people who were emancipated while living with other families and continued living with those families for quite awhile.

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I am able to train horses which if you were unaware can make more than enough money to buy necessities, especially since I already have a future and stable home to move to.

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What part of "You are not 100% self-sufficient" is beyond your grasp, Miss Mouthy?

"Self-sufficient" does not mean "moving in with friends". It means paying for 100% of EVERYTHING all by yourself. That means 100% of your rent at market rate, 100% of your utilities, 100% of your groceries, 100% of your health care (yes, you must purchase health insurance), 100% of all of your incidentals and transportation costs, including any school related fees.

Not only that, but you have to show the court that you've been 100% self-sufficient and living on your own for anywhere from 6 months to a year BEFORE you can even submit your petition.

So, how much are you currently making at your full-time job? How long have you held this job?

If you think we're harsh, try taking your current situation to a judge.

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Quoting Sarah Middleton

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There was a time when I had a steady job and was paying for all my expenses (except rent) because our family was hurting for money and I wanted to help out. Which would include electronics, food, clothes, hygiene stuff, etc... I am very confident I can do that again especially since I am older now and can expand my range of jobs. Like I said I am not looking to be emancipated right this moment. I have been thinking about it for awhile and have decided to look into it. From some of the information I have read so far, made it sound as though emancipation was for minors in bad situations who were able to provide for themselves. I came to this forum to find out more about emancipation before meeting with someone I know who has been, to see if it is a possibility for me.

Also what you said about living completely on your own is not completely true as I know multiple people who were emancipated while living with other families and continued living with those families for quite awhile.

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No, no you don't.

Either they're lying to you, or you're lying to us.

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Either they're lying to you, or you're lying to us.

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I live in a state where emancipation is not an option. Period. And yet, I've had kids tell me that they've been emancipated, they found a sympathetic judge, blah blah blah. Oh, magical thinking!

Sarah, Deschutes County puts a goodly bit of emancipation information out. Read it all, including the forms. Pay particular attention to the budget sheet, which doesn't ask for what you think these expenses might be, but for what they ACTUALLY ARE. Note also that the fact sheet requires that you be "self-maintained and self-supported". The court expects pay stubs, rent receipts, utility bill stubs, and bank statements to back this up.

So, whether you're trying to blow smoke up our collective heinies, or your friends are just engaging in magical thinking, understand that we know a lot more about the topic than you do, and your friends are not special snowflakes to whom the law does not apply. Neither are you.

Ok, let's look at it this way.

Have you graduated high school yet? (likely not).

So...you would need a work permit from school to work legally. Now when I was 16, the law stated I could only work and go to school 48 hours per week combined. That leaves 18 hours for work.

$7.25/hr x 18....=$522 a month, before taxes are taken out.

Apartments typically require you make atleast 3 times your rent to qualify. Since average monthly rent alone is $600+.....
You need to be making atleast $1800 a month, while attending school and maintaining good grades.

Next: Your parents don't have to allow you to take anything. So...you need a budget for little things like bath towels, shower curtain, trash can, plunger, dishes, utensils, pots and pans, a bed and bedding....

I'm actually going to modify my response a bit.

It IS possible for those minors to be emancipated while they're living with other people...

...AS LONG AS if the other people were killed in a plane crash, she'd still be able to fully support herself.


FYI: The laws on minors and employment are very, very different to your state's, Pandora. http://www.oregon.gov/boli/TA/pages/t_faq_taminors.aspx

Wow, they really are a whole lot different (the employing minors laws)

I know, right?! It seems Oregon really doesn't mind working kids to the bone!

With the number of hours they allow them to work....how do they get their homework done?

Poorly, I'd imagine :/