May a 17-Year-Old Run Away from Home

I'm 17 & live in Indiana with my mom, step dad, little brother & sister. I'll be 18 next September. I'm constantly fighting with my mom & step dad & I'm flat out not happy there anymore. I've thought about suicide, but I'm too scared to die.. My dad, step mom, step brother, little brother & sister all live in Ohio, and frankly I'm WAY happier there. There's hardly any fighting. The kids are 8, 4, & almost 2. So they don't rally bother me that much & I only get to see them in the summer, every other Christmas, & sometimes my spring break. I'd just like to know if my dad, step mom, & myself could get in trouble if I ran away from my moms house & went to my dad's? They have joint custody of me so I don't really see that we could, but I could be wrong. Please help. I'm in dire need!

You're wrong. You can get Dad in trouble if you run away and he doesn't return you to Mom's house.

You're also not the first seventeen year old who thinks that the grass is greener on the other side of the fence. Stop arguing with your Mom; she can't argue if you don't participate.

I've already lived at my dads before I know its not great there, but its better than what im going through now. I forgot to mention that I have ADD & my prescription has been ready for two weeks & I still don't have it. I'm in counseling, but I cant go back because my mom didn't pay the $20 co-pay. & If she is in a bad mood she fights with me for NO reason. its like I can do nothing right ever.

You can ask your mother to agree to let you live with your father, if he's amenable. You can ask your father to petition for modification of custody so that you can live with him, if he's amenable and mom is not. You can also ask your parents to simply give you permission to live where you choose and, if they consent, then choose to live with your father if he's amenable.

Until you are 18, you live where your custodial parent says you live. If the court has said that you live with Mom, then you live with Mom until you turn 18 or a court says otherwise. It's not a court suggestion - it's a court ORDER. Yes, dad can get in trouble if you show up there and he doesn't send you right back where you came from.

Why can't you pay the $20 co-pay?