Frazzled423
04-19-2007, 09:47 PM
I am 17 years old and I haven't lived with my mother since I was 13 years old. I've been moved around from placements to various families for the last 4 years, and I'm ready to just get out of it all. I am living with my father in Tennessee until I finish the correspondence high school I am doing back home in Texas (should only take another 2 weeks). My residence is still in Texas and my mom is the only one with guardianship over me, although she doesn't want me to live with her. Is it legal for me to move wherever I want to in Texas? I know she can't file me as a missing person if I can prove that she knows where I am, but it is legal for me to actually move out? I've been reading through other threads similar to mine, but they seem to go back and forth on that.
A quote from someone in another thread says: "A 17-year-old, in Texas and every other state, is a minor. You cannot legally leave home without parental consent or emancipation. If you do, your parents can file a police report. If the police refuse to bring you home, your parents can ask for a court order requiring them to do so. If anyone takes you in or assist you, then they can face charges such as harboring a runaway, contributing to the
delinquency of a minor, etc."
But then I read from an attorney general I think in that same thread: ""A child, including an unemancipated seventeen-year-old, who voluntarily leaves the care and control of his or her legal custodian without the custodian's consent and without intent to return is not a "missing child" under Code of Criminal Procedure chapter 63 if the custodian knows where the child is located. If the custodian determines the child's location after filing a missing child report and notifies the investigating law enforcement agency, the agency has no duty to continue the investigation or take the possession of the child and return him or her to the custodian."
So, basically, what I ask is this: Can I move in with an adult and not have them getting into any trouble for "contributing to the delinquency of a minor?" (As long as my mom knows where I am living and that it is a safe environment) Or being forced to move back home into a home where I was kicked out of!?
P.S. I don't have the money or the proof that I can support myself for emancipation. The adult I want to move in with is my fiance, who holds a steady job and promises to support me fully.
A quote from someone in another thread says: "A 17-year-old, in Texas and every other state, is a minor. You cannot legally leave home without parental consent or emancipation. If you do, your parents can file a police report. If the police refuse to bring you home, your parents can ask for a court order requiring them to do so. If anyone takes you in or assist you, then they can face charges such as harboring a runaway, contributing to the
delinquency of a minor, etc."
But then I read from an attorney general I think in that same thread: ""A child, including an unemancipated seventeen-year-old, who voluntarily leaves the care and control of his or her legal custodian without the custodian's consent and without intent to return is not a "missing child" under Code of Criminal Procedure chapter 63 if the custodian knows where the child is located. If the custodian determines the child's location after filing a missing child report and notifies the investigating law enforcement agency, the agency has no duty to continue the investigation or take the possession of the child and return him or her to the custodian."
So, basically, what I ask is this: Can I move in with an adult and not have them getting into any trouble for "contributing to the delinquency of a minor?" (As long as my mom knows where I am living and that it is a safe environment) Or being forced to move back home into a home where I was kicked out of!?
P.S. I don't have the money or the proof that I can support myself for emancipation. The adult I want to move in with is my fiance, who holds a steady job and promises to support me fully.
