My daughter is 16, she will be 17 in July and she thinks she has the right to move out without my permission, she is currently a sophmore in high school and I don't want her to leave. Does she have the legal right at 17?
Thanks,
Carolyn
My daughter is 16, she will be 17 in July and she thinks she has the right to move out without my permission, she is currently a sophmore in high school and I don't want her to leave. Does she have the legal right at 17?
Thanks,
Carolyn
I just spoke with the juvenile officer here and he says that at 17 even though she is still a minor, she is no longer considered a juvenile and can't be reported as a runaway. So he says I have no recourse to make her come back home if she leaves....![]()
As I stated in a pm the legal age of majority for the state of MO. is 18.
What the juvenile officer is referring to is that Missouri has a law that designates a 17 year old as being an "adult" for adjudication purposes.
Basically what that means is a 17 year old is considered an adult when it pertains to certain criminal offenses.
The age (17) that is cited in the juvenile code does not supercede the established legal age of majority which is 18 years of age.
He said that there is a law or statute that says I can have an attorney pettition the court to retain her as a juvenile until age 18 in order to keep her at home but he said he doesn't know of any cases where filing that worked. He said at 17 if she leaves home I can't report her as a runaway or anything. I have an appointment with an attorney next Wednesday to discuss my options. He says that the laws are very gray regarding this subject here in Missouri.
Gray or not shes not an adult until shes emancipated or 18! this means she lives under your rule
The issue, which has been touched on in other threads, is that being a "runaway" is a status offense handled in juvenile court. When a state changes its laws to lower the age of adult criminal responsibility and to lower the maximum age of a juvenile who can be haled before a juvenile court, they often effectively eliminate the mechanism to force a minor to return home.
aaron, you are exactly right. That is what Missouri has done because at 17 she will no longer fall under the juvenile system, I can not report her as runaway and they will not pick her up and bring her back. Missouri is great like thatShe can legally leave at 17, juv. officer can't do a thing, however, I am still financially responsible for her until she is 18 years of age. There is however a law that would allow me to petition the court to keep her under juvie jurisdiction until she is 18, this statute has only been in existence for about a year and a half the juvie officer said and he does not know of a single case where the court awarded the parent this authority. But... I have an attorney appointment the 23rd, so we will see....
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