Emancipation For The Unprovided

Ok my girlfriend is turning 17 in November she has really wanted to leave her mom and stepdad for some time. There has been a history of abuse in her family. Her stepdad was recently kicked out of her house by her mother. He has been reported for abuse many times they even had to stay at a womens shelter before. Since he is gone and the mother has no real job, she stays home and collects child support checks for my girlfriend and her brother. Basically since her stepdad has left and her mom is finally making plans for a divorce my girlfriend is going through alot. She works as a waitress and makes ok money but not enough to support herself. Her mother is basically taking all of her checks and tips to spend on herself and things around the house. Is this even legal? I live in Texas and recently I took a trip to see my girlfriend. I had no idea what she had to put up with tell I lived there for about a month. I was kicked out for not waking up early enough to go and work at there horse lot. How would she be able to be emancipated if all of her money goes to her mother and it wouldn't be enough to support herself? I would like her to come live with me and my family. I am 19 and my parents have already agreed to it. If the courts wouldn't let her live with me I would just like to find her a save place to stay besides here. I am afraid if she mentioned she wanted to live with her boyfriend people wouldn't take her seriously. Or her mother would tell the courts how unfit I am or slander me basically. She has a father figure in her life he lives in Arizona. She or her mother arent real sure if he is the actual father because her mother cheated on him in there relationship. But my girlfriend thought that living with him would sound like a more suitable choice then living with her mother. Which I agree with. I was wondering what she needed to do/prove in order to be emancipated and live somewhere else. Maybe not with me but anywhere else is better then there. I just need to know a few practical things. Like if any of this would ever work out. Who she would need to call. Who they would need statements from. Those types of things. Please I really need your help, I just want her to be save and in a place where she feels loved. Please answer all the questions I have asked in order for me to make this work. I am willing to do anything possible. Thank you. Cory D Howard.

Quoting Virginia Code § 16.1-331. Petition for emancipation.
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Any minor who has reached his sixteenth birthday and is residing in this Commonwealth, or any parent or guardian of such minor, may petition the juvenile and domestic relations district court for the county or city in which either the minor or his parents or guardian resides for a determination that the minor named in the petition be emancipated. The petition shall contain, in addition to the information required by § 16.1-262, the gender of the minor and, if the petitioner is not the minor, the name of the petitioner and the relationship of the petitioner to the minor.

she will need to prove she has enough income for self support a place to live (independently not with you) a plan for independent living as well as an education plan.

How will she be able to prove she can live independently? Does she need some kind of paper like a bank statement of how much income she is making? Because she is a waitress and most of her money comes from tips. She only gets paid 2.15 an hour I think. Also, would she have to show prove of where she was staying. Say if she picked an apartment to stay on her own. Would she have to show the courts her cost of living in order to stay there? Thanks again.

She will have to show what her income is, where she is living, what her expenses are, how her income will cover it, how she will manage school on top of this and probably several other things I'm not thinking of at the moment.

Note that she cannot go into a judge with "I'm going to find an apartment - I'm going to get a job that pays..." She needs to already have the apartment and already have the job.

Keep in mind, emancipation is hard. It is designed to be hard. It is supposed to be hard. 99.99% of teens who apply for emancipation will fail.

The emancipation laws were not designed for kids to be able to leave home. They are designed to provide legal assistance to those kids who, through no fault of their own, are already living independently. She cannot go in there with anything less than solid proof of her ability to live independently.

Say she had enough money for a place to stay. But her mother wouldnt allow her to move out, or she would threaten her as a runaway? Is that possible? How will she able to afford her own place to live if her mother is taking all her money? How is it legal to do this? 99.9% huh? So your saying believing in this is just stupid false hope. I just want the truth.

Simple she can't. She is under her parents legal authority and canno tlive outside of her parents home without consent

Emancipation is not a right. It is a privilege. If her mother does not consent to her moving out, that's the ball game right there.

Why even make it a law if there is pretty much no way of doing it? I can consider there being alot of cases where a teenager would want to move out just cause they think things are not fair. Or that they wanted to be with they're boyfriend of girlfriend. But how do you prove that there is neglect and mental abuse happening? Its not really something you can catch on camera. Is there some kind of place where a professional can evaluate every person in the house hold and find out what the problem is? I just think if someone looked into it they would find an unfit household. Someone that doesnt clean, cook, or have a job and there kids over the age of 5 still cant read. Seems like horrible parenting to me. How could I expose this?

You file an abuse complaint and let CPS investigate. Emancipation is not easy on purpose. If it was nearly every teen would apply.

You're missing the point of the emancipation laws.

They are not, and never were, designed to help kids leave home.

The emancipation laws were put into place to provide legal protection to those kids who, through no fault of their own, found themselves homeless or otherwise on their own.