Is Emancipation the Way to Go

[106]

My question involves emancipation laws for the State of: North Carolina. My niece is 17 and suffers extreme verbal abuse from her mother. Her father refuses to hold down a steady job and the niece says that her parents take the money that she earns from her part-time job and spend it on drinking. About a year ago, her parents pulled her out of public school. (One of her school teachers encouraged her to try emancipation at that time.) The family is supposed have filed the paperwork to be recognized as a homeschool, but the niece says that her mother doesn't give her any school work. She is over the compulsory attendance age for our state, so there doesn't appear to be anything that can be done about it. She has never been allowed to get a drivers license and the family lives in what most people would consider sub-standard housing. I am reluctant to get social services involved because they are my family, but I am concerned that the situation is escalating to an unhealthy level. I would like for her to get out as soon as possible. If she stays where she is, I'm afraid that she will get pregnant and run away with her boyfriend like her older sister did. I would be willing for her to move in with me and help her get enrolled in some type of online high school or GED program and get her drivers license with the eventual goal of enrolling in college, which she wants to do. But based on reading the emancipation laws for our state, I'm doubtful that she can prove that she can support herself. What other options are there? Does social services have to become involved?

[aardvarc]

Having social services involved can be a two edged sword; they might find a LOT wrong and remove the child to a place or setting that can't be predicted; or, they may find that nothing is extreme enough to warrant ANY level of action, but their investigation could really piss of the parents and make a bad situation worse. Verbal abuse is almost never grounds for action on its own, and LOTS of families need the income from their teens to keep the rent paid and the electricity on, so that arguement in itself won't impact the situation (even if her money is being spent on alcohol, if she's got a roof over her head, food on the table, running water, etc. it'll be a moot point).

If her parents are willing to allow her to live with you, it shouldn't be an issue. Particularly if she's able to enroll herself in school. Of course if the parents are counting on and using her earnings to bankroll their drinking, they may be resistant to this idea (until such time as she stops bringing home money they can take, or puts it in a place where they don't have access to it).

Another option might be to apply for guardianship through your county probate court; whereby you'd ask the court to make YOU her legal guardian. However, you should be aware that verbal abuse and taking her money alone probably aren't enough to cause a court to terminate her parents as her legal guardians.

Realistically? She's got less than a year until she's 18, then she can walk out and never look back. As she gets CLOSER to 18, she can consider having her paychecks issued as actual checks, and simply stash them until such time as she can legally open a checking account of her own to deposit her nestegg in.

[PandorasBox]

I wonder if she can have her paychecks issued as checks. Cash them. Stash the money in a safe place?

I always have a fireproof box with keys. I wonder if she could buy one (their $20 or so at WalMart) and stash the box at your house?

I don't know the laws about opening bank accounts, but maybe she could open one and get a Savings Account and Safety Deposit Box?

Some thoughts worth checking into......