Emancipating in New Jersey

[emily em468]

okay.. here is the thing. my mom passed away 2 months ago. i haven't talked to my dad in 5 years (when i mean haven't talked i mean no contact what so ever) and now i am living an hour away from where i grew up. im 15 is there anyway i can emancipate myself and live with my friends family that is willing to take me?

[aaron]

New Jersey has no general emancipation statute. It does have an emancipation statute for minors with HIV, but that's a very limited statute. There is some common law authority in support of emancipation, but it's more a description of when a court might deem a minor to be emancipated as opposed to how that might be achieved, although it makes plain that active duty military service results in emancipation. See Bishop v Bishop, 287 NJ Super. 593, 597, 604 (Chan. Div. 1995) (because the mother was no longer fulfilling her son's "material requirements, such as food, housing, and medical care" and "relinquished any remaining control and responsibility over her son" by virtue of the son's enrollment at West Point, the father was held to be relieved from his support obligations for the child.)