Pregnant 17-Year-Old Wants to be Emancipated

My question involves juvenile law in the State of: indiana

I am 17 and pregnant. I have been on my own for at least 3 years taking care of myself. Im ready be able to get a house in my own name and go to my own doctors appointments by myself. Life is difficult when you have to be an adult while still legally being a child. My mother is deceased and my father is a trouble maker..hes constantly in and out of jail. I dont live with him nor have i for years. I need to be able to do something for me and my baby. Im 4 1/2 months pregnant and living with friends. I go to school every day. I am going to be graduating in october. I wont be 18 till February. And my baby will be here by christmas. I have social security income because of my mother passing away. Its in my name and has been for about 8 or 9 months now. I need to know if i can get emancipated or if im just waisting my time. The courts here know my dad and know what hes about so i feel like they would. And is there any way i can do it without my dad being there? Please be serious. Please try to help me dont.just tell me its not going to work.

How do you support yourself, just with SSI?

My ssi is almost 800 dollars a month. I pay rent where i am living and i buy myself food and hygienic necessities

The thing is hon, $800/month is not going to convince a court you can take care of yourself and a new baby. With that said, you're in a pretty desperate situation.

Have you checked into the various forms of aid you could qualify for in Indiana?

Take a look here, because you're going to need help once you've turned 18, too. Assuming the father is also a teen, he's not going to be able to provide a whole heck of a lot of support.

http://www.benefits.gov/benefits/bro...state/state/IN

Read this thread.

Your almost $800 survivor benefit is not enough for your support, let alone for the support of you and a child.

I do have medicaid and foodstamps. My foodstamps is only 30$ being that i have my ssi. I have found quite a few apartments here that i could afford but i currently cannot get being a minor. I am in high school. I will be graduating almost a year early. I am currently getting an early childhood education certification, with that i can get a job in a daycare which i plan to do. I go to school from 9am to 4pm. Until i can get a place, i dont feel as if i can hold a job while attending school. But like i said i will be graduated in October. My boyfriend, which is the father, is 19, he works for about 35hrs a week for 10$ an hour. I mean, yes the father is a teen but he is over the age of 18. And once i turn 18 i will be getting a settlement check from a crash i was in at a young age. I will be receiving about 25,000$ and i have plans to get a home and a vehicle and all the needs for my child. I 100% know my child is not going to go without. I will not allow that. But i need a safer environment for myself so i can have this child.

Sweetheart, the moment you got pregnant, you kissed any hope of legal emancipation goodbye.

I dont understand that though. Whether im emancipated or not i will be taking care of myself and my child alone. My father will be no help. Like i said, ive been on my own since i was 14. Taking care of my self. Ive had jobs. But school is more important to me. Whether emancipated or not im still going to be alone in this. I dont understand why i "kissed any hope of emancipation goodbye" by getting pregnant. So if you will please explain this to me. Because if i decide to go to court i want to be ready to fight in every which angle they come at me. And if you feel like they wont emancipate me, if i do still decide to try, will they bring cps in? Ill be 18 in 6 months..

Getting pregnant at 17 indicates to the court that you need more parental supervision, not less.

Quote:

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Quoting dallasbader12

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I dont understand that though. Whether im emancipated or not i will be taking care of myself and my child alone. My father will be no help. Like i said, ive been on my own since i was 14. Taking care of my self. Ive had jobs. But school is more important to me. Whether emancipated or not im still going to be alone in this. I dont understand why i "kissed any hope of emancipation goodbye" by getting pregnant. So if you will please explain this to me. Because if i decide to go to court i want to be ready to fight in every which angle they come at me. And if you feel like they wont emancipate me, if i do still decide to try, will they bring cps in? Ill be 18 in 6 months..

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In order for the court to emancipate you, it needs to take the utmost care in deciding whether or not you can actually support yourself - and in your case, a child - without necessarily needing the state's help.

Pregnancy generally tells the court that you need more and not less supervision. There won't be any court battle, because their decision will be the end of the matter. An appeal wouldn't get you anywhere, and you can't refile elsewhere.

Once you turn 18, you're free to do whatever you want to do. And bear in mind that the state will look for just about any reason to deny an emancipation petition and the likelihood of your case being heard before you turn 18 isn't good to begin with.