Emancipation Circumstances

[ddennis]

My question involves emancipation laws for the State of: oklahoma

*Names were changed
My friend Sage* attempted suicide 28-Feb-2010. Her father who was out of state didn't even come to the hospital until four days later and is now forcing her to move. He has never truely been there for her since she was a kid. He gave her permission to move out and live with me in mid-January, and he moved out of state. Can she become emancipated though she attempted suicide?
She fears she may attempt again if she lives back with him.
She's 17 is to graduate in May.
She turns 18 in August.

Any help would be useful thanks.

[aardvarc]

A suicide attempt (not to mention thoughts of FUTURE suicide attempts as a way to deal with problems that haven't even happened yet) will rule out any possibility of emancipation. It is a huge red flag to the court that her coping skills are exceptionally poor, even IF she was otherwise fully financially self supporting, educationally exceptional, and all the OTHER criteria that courts look for in deciding emancipation cases.

And in Oklahoma, emancipation ONLY gives minors the right to enter into certain types of contracts, it does NOT remove them from parental authority as in other states.

[ddennis]

Forgot to put one detail in there which I have been told isn't really relevant. It was a verbal agreement not written.

[Mr. Knowitall]

That doesn't change the answer.

Having a written agreement wouldn't change the answer.

[Xena]

My question involves emancipation laws for the State of: oklahoma

*Names were changed
My friend Sage* attempted suicide 28-Feb-2010. Her father who was out of state didn't even come to the hospital until four days later and is now forcing her to move. He has never truely been there for her since she was a kid. He gave her permission to move out and live with me in mid-January, and he moved out of state. Can she become emancipated though she attempted suicide?
She fears she may attempt again if she lives back with him.
She's 17 is to graduate in May.
She turns 18 in August.

Any help would be useful thanks.

As already advised, she cannot be emancipated.

There is something you can do to help your friend though, help her to understand and agree that as soon as she gets to her dad's she will need to get some professional help with her menatl health issues.
She does NOT need her dad's permission, nor does she need to even consider another suicide attempt. She can go to a teacher, or school guidance counselor for help. She can also go to the nearest mental health center on her own. If she does that, they cannot begin to treat her without her dad's knowledge, BUT they will be alerted and if her Dad refuses, the mental health center can contact CPS if needed to get her the help she needs.

Although she has only 5 or so months before turning 18, her biggest need is to get help, then on her 18th birthday she can legally leave. The most important thing is for to be able to reach her birthday, and suicide attempts can quite often become worse than a suicide.

I'll post back in a few minutes with some websites that you and her can go to for help with depression issues.

http://www.nami.org/Content/ContentG...ge_Suicide.htm


This is one site that has been a big help to me:
http://www.dbsalliance.org/site/Page...?pagename=home