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  1. #1
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    Jul 2017
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    Default Can a Twelve-Year-Old Chld be Emancipated

    My question involves a child custody case from the State of: Texas.

    Our granddaughter's mother passed away in Nov 2015. She was forced to live, by the courts, with her biological father whom she had never met and isn't even listed on the birth certificate. She wanted to live with us because she has grown up with us, her maternal grandparents.

    After 2 years we have just now been able to see her again after court ordered visitation. Our granddaughter is 12 now and is interested in emancipation from her father and coming to Georgia to live with us. Is this possible?

  2. #2
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    Default Re: Emancipation if a 12 Year Old

    No. Not going to happen. No court is going to emancipate a 12 year old unless they are a celebrity and maybe even not then. You have to be 17 (or 16 and living apart from parents) and already supporting yourself in Texas to even file for emancipation. This is not what emancipation is intended to be used for what you have described.

    Is she being abused or neglected? You can report that to the police. It seems apparent that her father's paternity had to have been established at some point for the court to assign him custody.

    You likely wouldn't get granted any custody if you tried to fight for it because you state this is the first time in 2 years you have seen her or had visitation.

    It's pretty much not going to be possible for her to be emancipated or to come live with you.

  3. #3
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    Default Re: Emancipation if a 12 Year Old

    Quote Quoting qwaspolk69
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    No. Not going to happen. No court is going to emancipate a 12 year old unless they are a celebrity and maybe even not then.
    There's no "maybe" about it, and it has nothing to do with celebrity. No 12-year-old qualifies for emancipation under any state's emancipation statutes.

    Even if a child is old enough to qualify for emancipation, a court is not going to emancipate a dependent minor so that the minor can be supported by somebody other than the parent. That's not the purpose of emancipation.

  4. #4
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    Default Re: Emancipation if a 12 Year Old

    There is no state that will emancipate a 12 year old under any circumstances whatsoever. California will consider emancipating a 14 year old if they are able to completely support themselves and have a NEED for legal emancipation - we're now talking about children in the entertainment or athletic fields where they need to be able to sign a contract. Other states require 16 as a minimum age. The minimum age in Texas is 16, and in Texas to be emancipated at 16 the child must ALREADY be living separate from their parents.

    However, emancipation does NOT mean being "divorced" from her parents and custody given to other family members. For a minor to be emancipated, they must be able to show the judge that they themselves are capable of supporting THEMSELVES. Emancipation is simply not going to happen.

  5. #5
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    Default Re: Emancipation if a 12 Year Old

    OK. So here is the thing. His paternity was established when she was 3 yrs in order for her mother to get help with child support. He refused to pay, went to jail, then his wages were garnished until her mother died.

    Yes he is abusing her, beating her with a belt wrapped in duct tape, slapping her across the face; he beat her so bad at one point it took 30 minutes before she could crawl to her room. Police reports have been filed and the police have gotten CPS involoved.

    According to CPS, even though he admitted to beating on her and admitted to all the other things he has done they can't do anything without physical evidence. By the time CPS and the police found out and got to her there was no evidence, (i.e., bruises, marks, etc).They claim this even with an eye witness to him beating her to the point of having to be pulled off her. He has been warned not to put his hands in her again.

    We have had to fight in courts since he got her, just to be able to talk to her and see her. Once he got her from us he cut her off from her entire family on her mom's side. So what can you tell me about a "divorce" from a parent in Texas or some other option for us? She wants to get away from him and come back to live with us. We are desperate for options.

    Also, he has 8 active warrants; 2 in Galveston and 6 in Louisiana. He is also a lifetime registered sex offender (underage girls). This is a very long and tedious story and this only a piece of it.

  6. #6
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    Default Re: Emancipation if a 12 Year Old

    Quote Quoting FranLew
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    OK. So here is the thing. His paternity was established when she was 3 yrs in order for her mother to get help with child support. He refused to pay, went to jail, then his wages were garnished until her mother died.

    Yes he is abusing her, beating her with a belt wrapped in duct tape, slapping her across the face; he beat her so bad at one point it took 30 minutes before she could crawl to her room. Police reports have been filed and the police have gotten CPS involoved.

    According to CPS, even though he admitted to beating on her and admitted to all the other things he has done they can't do anything without physical evidence. By the time CPS and the police found out and got to her there was no evidence, (i.e., bruises, marks, etc).They claim this even with an eye witness to him beating her to the point of having to be pulled off her. He has been warned not to put his hands in her again.

    We have had to fight in courts since he got her, just to be able to talk to her and see her. Once he got her from us he cut her off from her entire family on her mom's side. So what can you tell me about a "divorce" from a parent in Texas or some other option for us? She wants to get away from him and come back to live with us. We are desperate for options.

    Also, he has 8 active warrants; 2 in Galveston and 6 in Louisiana. He is also a lifetime registered sex offender (underage girls). This is a very long and tedious story and this only a piece of it.
    A minor cannot "divorce" a parent (or her parents). No matter what.

    Quote Quoting FranLew
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    OK. So here is the thing. His paternity was established when she was 3 yrs in order for her mother to get help with child support. He refused to pay, went to jail, then his wages were garnished until her mother died.

    Yes he is abusing her, beating her with a belt wrapped in duct tape, slapping her across the face; he beat her so bad at one point it took 30 minutes before she could crawl to her room. Police reports have been filed and the police have gotten CPS involoved.

    According to CPS, even though he admitted to beating on her and admitted to all the other things he has done they can't do anything without physical evidence. By the time CPS and the police found out and got to her there was no evidence, (i.e., bruises, marks, etc).They claim this even with an eye witness to him beating her to the point of having to be pulled off her. He has been warned not to put his hands in her again.

    We have had to fight in courts since he got her, just to be able to talk to her and see her. Once he got her from us he cut her off from her entire family on her mom's side. So what can you tell me about a "divorce" from a parent in Texas or some other option for us? She wants to get away from him and come back to live with us. We are desperate for options.

    Also, he has 8 active warrants; 2 in Galveston and 6 in Louisiana. He is also a lifetime registered sex offender (underage girls). This is a very long and tedious story and this only a piece of it.

    Have you actually tried to get custody yourselves? I cannot guess at your chances, but that's about the only shot you realistically have.

    Is there a reason why the witness didn't immediately call the police to report the ongoing assault?

  7. #7
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    Default Re: Emancipation if a 12 Year Old

    The witness was his live-in girlfriend at the time. She has since left him. We are and will continue to fight for custody. CPS has "watchers" on him. CPS, the police, and our attorneys have said it's just a matter off time before he messes up again. Thank you for the comments. You don't know what you don't know.

  8. #8
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    Default Re: Emancipation if a 12 Year Old

    I simply cannot believe there were no marks from the actions stated. Slapping alone will leave a mark. Beating with a tape wrapped belt will cause bruising in a very distinctive pattern.

    Your post is intentionally misleading. You state the father is not listed on the birth certificate apparently to suggest he may not be the father. In your second post you state paternity was established. The fact nobody filed to amend the birth certificate to reflect that finding is irrelevant.

    It sounds like you have a simple remedy; since he lives in Texas and there are warrants for his arrest in Texas, calling the issuing municipality and providing his current address may result in his arrest. Given the multiple warrants that should result in his detention for a considerable period of time.


    Now, do you have any actual proof of the child's claims of abuse or are you relying on the statement of a 12 yo child that doesn't want to stay where she is? I find it implausible there is abuse st the level stated and nothing has been done to protect the child. Again, the actions you state will leave marks. There is no doubt about that.

  9. #9
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    Default Re: Emancipation if a 12 Year Old

    Quote Quoting Mr. Knowitall
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    There's no "maybe" about it, and it has nothing to do with celebrity. No 12-year-old qualifies for emancipation under any state's emancipation statutes.

    Even if a child is old enough to qualify for emancipation, a court is not going to emancipate a dependent minor so that the minor can be supported by somebody other than the parent. That's not the purpose of emancipation.

    I thought I had read about some celebrity emancipated at 12 but I guess not. My bad...

    Quote Quoting FranLew
    View Post
    OK. So here is the thing. His paternity was established when she was 3 yrs in order for her mother to get help with child support. He refused to pay, went to jail, then his wages were garnished until her mother died.

    Yes he is abusing her, beating her with a belt wrapped in duct tape, slapping her across the face; he beat her so bad at one point it took 30 minutes before she could crawl to her room. Police reports have been filed and the police have gotten CPS involoved.

    According to CPS, even though he admitted to beating on her and admitted to all the other things he has done they can't do anything without physical evidence. By the time CPS and the police found out and got to her there was no evidence, (i.e., bruises, marks, etc).They claim this even with an eye witness to him beating her to the point of having to be pulled off her. He has been warned not to put his hands in her again.

    We have had to fight in courts since he got her, just to be able to talk to her and see her. Once he got her from us he cut her off from her entire family on her mom's side. So what can you tell me about a "divorce" from a parent in Texas or some other option for us? She wants to get away from him and come back to live with us. We are desperate for options.

    Also, he has 8 active warrants; 2 in Galveston and 6 in Louisiana. He is also a lifetime registered sex offender (underage girls). This is a very long and tedious story and this only a piece of it.
    How long until CPS and the police were notified? Because if he's beating her with belts and things there would be SOME kind of bruising and marks. It takes a while for bruises to heal.

    There is no divorce from parents - and you need to try to get custody of her. If there are police and CPS reports, use those. Witnesses.

    Obviously his warrants and sex offender status don't matter to the court if he has custody of her...

  10. #10

    Default Re: Emancipation if a 12 Year Old

    Emancipation cannot happen in the state of Texas until the age of 16 and the child has to be living separate from the parent and able to support oneself.

    Suggestion: when you get your grandchild, if there are marks that show abuse call the police and report it. Get a domestic violence protection order to prevent unsupervised contact between the father and his child. He can go to court and get supervised visitation with that in place though. Call children services at the same time. If there is abuse that can be proven, you will be granted the domestic violence protection order and children services, if they deem fit, will temporarily change custody. Children services doesn't need to have criminal charges against the father to pursue a change of custody. If children services has proof and believes there is child abuse happening, they will remove the child from the father's care and place into your care seeing as how you have court ordered visitation. If you don't have court ordered visitation, the child could be placed in foster care if that is what the father chooses.

    Document everything. Take pictures. Record conversations (both Texas and Georgia are one party states meaning only one person to the conversation has to know it's being recorded, which would be you). Write down specific dates and times for incidences of abuse or when abuse was discovered.

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