May I Become Emancipated Instead of Living With a Parent

My question involves juvenile law in the State of: Nebraska
Hello, i am 17 years old and live in Nebraska. my mother and father became divorced when i was about a year old and met my father almost 5 years ago. about a year and a half ago i moved in with my father because my mother and i do not get along, we constantly got into fights and frequently almost became physical ones. I do not want to live with my father because i am scared of him. he has bad anger problems and takes it out violently, but not on my. we have gotten into many fights and he always tells me things that really brings me down and makes me think i am a failure. When he gets very angry he takes it out violently and punches things and throws things. My door on my room is not broken and i have a large crack almost a hole in my wall in my room from him. i am decent at school, i do have some trouble turning in work but i get it turned in and my GPA is about a 3.0 i think right now (i am not positive of it). I am clinically diagnosed with depression and i have self harmed before. Alot of my self harm is because of my parents. My father currently took my phone which is my only means of contacting my work and talking to friends. Night time is when my depression gets very bad and i have no way of contacting anyone about it. My dad wants me to talk to him but i can't because he simply refuses to understand anything, he has never self harmed before so i simply just can't talk to him about it because it is impossible for him to understand. I cannot take living with my father any longer, things will become very bad if i do. I cannot live with my mother because we do not get along and she mentally and emotionally abuses me also. I currently have a job at the local nursing home but i do sports so i am not getting a full 20 hours a week. It is April right now and i am a junior and i turn 18 in December. this summer i am going to stop working at the nursing home and work at a local state park for a summer job, i worked there last year. I am able to stay there during the summer due to me living 47 miles away, i did not stay there last year though. This year i think it would be a good idea to stay there for the summer so my dad and i can have some time away from each other, and my school counselor and one of my teachers agree. I do have a boyfriend but i am not pregnant and never have been. Him and his father said i can live with them but i don't want to because then i know i wont be able to become emancipated. I live in a very small town and the nearest town is a college town which has a wal mart and other stores and apartments, which is 20 miles away. If i were to get an apartment and get a roommate to help pay for rent and other utilities how would that work out? i would like to continue going to the same school and graduate here, i only have one year left. What is my chance like of getting emancipated because of these factors?

I am clinically diagnosed with depression and i have self harmed before.

The above is all we need to see to know that emancipation is simply not going to happen.

I did not have depression until i moved to nebraska and mostly started living with my father. He is the main cause of my self harming, i was doing very good for about three months and then some things happened and we got into a fight. I am not stable in that house and since he acts so violently that is interfering with my safety of the home, that is considered threatening. This is according to the nebraska legistlature at this website http://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/...tatute=43-2922, here http://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/...statute=28-710, and here http://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/...statute=28-707.

well, about that turning 18 thing...

it appears the age of majority in Nebraska is 19. That would mean you are deemed a minor, and as such, under your parents control, until you reach the age of 19.


there appears to be no law regarding emancipation in Nebraska. Due to that, while it is not entirely impossible to be emancipated, there are no rules to follow in becoming emancipated. The bigger problem is; yours is not a situation that would typically allow emancipation anyway. Your situation screams of needing continued supervision, not less. Especially given your self harm issues, you need to be in treatment. Are you receiving any sort of counseling or medical supervision of your issues?

It sounds like you should seek counseling and the idea of moving away for work would likely be about the best scenario you can hope for.

btw: you can enter into a binding contract at 18 but that is about the only thing being 18 allows.

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Quoting BrittanyFerg

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I did not have depression until i moved to nebraska and mostly started living with my father. He is the main cause of my self harming, i was doing very good for about three months and then some things happened and we got into a fight. I am not stable in that house and since he acts so violently that is interfering with my safety of the home, that is considered threatening. This is according to the nebraska legistlature at this website http://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/...tatute=43-2922, here http://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/...statute=28-710, and here http://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/...statute=28-707.

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then call child protective services and report the situation

And where in any of that do you see that the legal recourse for a "threatening" environment is for you to be emancipated?

Not happening, little girl. If the law determines that you are not safe in the home, you will next be learning the meaning of the words, Foster Care.

I have received couseling before and i went quite a while without self harming but since my dad has become more stressed and more violent is has been difficult. The only time i am wanted to self harm is because of my father. everytime i am away i do not.

Doesn't change anything. That is only one of the several reasons why you are not a candidate for emancipation, but it is one that is not going to go away no matter how many ways you try to explain it away.

As I said, emancipation is not going to happen.

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Quoting BrittanyFerg

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I have received couseling before and i went quite a while without self harming but since my dad has become more stressed and more violent is has been difficult. The only time i am wanted to self harm is because of my father. everytime i am away i do not.

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while your father may not know anything about people that self harm, I on the other hand do.


Self harm is not caused by a "them" issue. It is a YOU issue. It is your reaction to life as you view it. Removing yourself from a situation you want to claim is the cause will not fix you. It may allow a temporary lull in your self harm activities but it does nothing to fix you. Once placed in a situation that stresses you again, you will revert to it so you need to fix your issues. Doing it while you are still a minor where you have the financial support of your father is a lot better time to do it than once you go out into the world and try to get treatment while struggling to pay your bills.