Confussing Costody question

Hi tigger91,

How old are you? (16?)

Indeed
Yeah.

I'm 16

How old is your bf? I'm not sure about the laws for statuatory rape in Missouri.

You say your father doesn't care if you move in with your boy friend. What does your mother say?

He's 23 and my mom doesn't like the idea of hm but, she doesn't care at the same time. My dad has no problem.

My mom won't let me do it but, my dad would perfer I wasn't living with my mom bc she isn't a great parent.

Evidently your boyfriend is guilty of statutory rape in Missouri:



http://www.moga.mo.gov/statutes/C500-599/5660000034.HTM

Lots more Missouri resources here:

http://www.teen-aid.org/State_Resourses/Missouri.htm

I must have missed the post where tigger91 explained that she was having sex with her boyfriend.

Good point. I assumed.

I think that it is a reasonable assumption that if a female is living with a male as boyfriend/girlfriend they will be having sex.

tigger91- Welcome to A2K!

IMO, for your boyfriend's sake, (as well as yours) you would be better off not living with him until you reach the age of consent.

Tigger--




I agree with Phoenix.

If your mother wanted to get really nasty, she could file charges. You might be declared an out-of-control juvenile and your bf could be jailed and marked for life as a sexual offender.

As far as I can tell, tigger91, the best way to accomplish what you to do is to become an emancipated minor. Missouri, like several other states, doesn't have a statute that regulates this practice, so it's up to the courts to decide the rules for emancipation.

Missouri courts hold that a minor can be emancipated in one of three was: (1) by express parental consent, (2) by implied parental consent, or (3) by a change of the child's status in the eyes of society. The third category usually refers to a child who has married or joined the military. "However, it may also be shown when a child who is physically and mentally able to care for herself voluntarily chooses to leave the parental home and attempts to 'fight the battle of life on [her] own account.'" Assuming that your father would be willing to give his express consent to your emancipation but your mother would not, we need to determine if moving in with your boyfriend would constitute either your mother's implied consent or if you will have "changed your status in the eyes of society."

According to Dowell v. Dowell, a minor living in a stable, independent relationship with her boyfriend, without the custodial parent's express approval but also without her opposition, can constitute both the implied consent of the custodial parent and also the kind of "changed status" that can constitute self-emancipation for the minor.

So, if your father approves and your mother doesn't object to you moving in with your boyfriend, and you establish an independent household with him and don't depend on your parents for support, it seems that you can emancipate yourself from parental control. Once that happens, you can move wherever you want without your mother's consent.

Two further points to add: (1) although I'm an attorney, I'm not a Missouri attorney. I spent about 20 minutes trolling the internet to come up with my conclusion. If you intend to follow the plan that I've outlined above, you would be well advised to seek legal counsel; and (2) you have only asked us what your legal options are. You haven't asked us if what you are planning to do is a good idea or not. Since you haven't asked, I won't offer my own opinions on that subject. If you have any doubts about that, you may want to seek advice in our Relationships Forum.

Given that we know absolutely nothing about tigger91 except that she has a boyfriend (with whom she is not living at this time), I'm not sure if that is a reasonable assumption at all.

tigger91 has another topic where she talks about the fact that she had an appendectomy and the hospital is after her mother to pay that bill. If tigger becomes an emancipated minor, will that affect the bill? Or does it only matter that she was a minor when the surgery happened?

http://www.able2know.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=3072032#3072032

Unless they do things differently in Missouri, the general rule is that the obligation to pay is determined at the time the debt is contracted. If the mother was the custodial parent at the time of the surgery, then the mother is obligated to pay, and that obligation doesn't change just because the minor later becomes emancipated.

Thank you very much Jowfromchicago

And me having or not having sex with my bf is not my point. But, you all have been a great help mostly you joe, thank you!

And whoever asked about me getting emancipated and the hospital bills and all that, thank you. I didn't think of that.

Tigger asked another question on emancipation here:

http://www.able2know.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=111509

Tigger, be sure you are clicking on the REPLY button rather than the NEW TOPIC button. This will help keep all your related questions in one place so people will find them and continue to give helpful responses.

Hi tigger,

Absolutely no need to tell us whether you and your boyfriend are having sex. But IF you are, please carefully consider that a) what he's doing is illegal and could get him in very big trouble, and b) you're about to antagonize your mother, who therefore might be interested in telling the authorities about the illegal relationship.