I'm 16, and I've had a lot of problems at home. I live in Texas, and I would really like to move out. I know I can't move out at 16, but I was wondering if it is legal in Texas to move out when you are 17 and not be charged. I already tried moving in with a family member and that didn't work. My mother won't let me get emancipated, so I don't know what to do. I would have a job and a place to live with some friends that have an apartment and room for me. PLEASE help! :confused:

Read this and the additional links:

http://www.laborlawtalk.com/showpost.php?p=429453&postcount=2

A chid under the age of 18 can not leave without their parents consent and without the intent to return. They can be reported as a missing runaway and if found, they will be taken back home. Any person caught with a missing runaway can be charged with harboring a runaway child.

Don't see it happening. You may want to see if there is a relative or family friend your mother might agree to let you live wiht until you are age 18.

I am in a similar situation, except I am the person that a child who has left home is currently living with. This child came to live with myself and my two children a week ago. He had been living with a woman who has either guardianship or custody, but she is not a blood-relative of the child. She told him she was kicking him out. Later she called his friend and told him to come get his belongings. As an adult, I want to do what is right for this child, who is 16, but I do not want to be charged with harboring a runaway. So, I took him to the police station where he talked with police. He was told that he had been reported as a runaway. THe police had been to the house to talk to her and wanted to set up a meeting with her for him to get his belongings. When the police called her about meeting, she changed her mind and said that he could not have his belongings. The police took my name and phone numbers and told me that he could come to my house. He has now been here for 7 days. On the evening of the night he came here, his guardian's son, who he calls dad, called me and said that he was leaving his bookbag at the curb in front of my house and we might want to go out and pick it up. THe next day I dropped him off at school and picked him up afterwards. That evening, his "dad" called again and said that all his stuff was in a couple of garbage bags out at the curb and that we might want to go out and pick them up. THe next night the "guardian" called me and said she had been trying to call all week to talk to me. When I told her that I had only received the two calls on my cell phone with no message about contacting her, she said she had tried calling on our land line, and we don't have an answering machine. She wants to meet to tell me about this boy's "problems" or as she put it, "her side of the story". I told her I would call her back but I have not yet done so. I know that I have no legal right to make any decisions about this child, which kind of makes me uneasy. THe fact that he does not feel that anyone is legally responsible for him right now makes him uneasy. We are at our wits end. My children and I want him here, but without some sort of financial support it will be a stretch on our budget to keep him here. She seems to think that when he turns 17 in a couple of weeks that she can emancipate him. He is still in high school, attending regularly and getting good grades. From what I have read, in Texas, a parent/guardian has a responsibility to support the child until they are 18 or when the graduate high school. He will not graduate for another two years.

Has she, by sending all his belongings to our home, abandoned him? She has told him that he cannot come back to the house and that she is filing a restraining order to keep him from coming to the house. She has also said that she is fililng emancipation papers for him, but i don't think according to the law that she can do that. I think that he could file papers to be emancipated, but he is not likely to do that. He does not currently have a job, she has not allowed him to get a learners permit so he can learn to drive, she feels that the church he attends, which is a Christian church, that I also attend, is "warping his brain". She has made it clear to him that she does not want him there any longer. She took custody of him from his mother when he was 8 or nine. The mother was addicted to drugs and was dating the man who is this "guardians" son. The guardian was able to either be declared the legal guardian or adopt him and the mother, and I guess the biological father also terminated their parental rights. This woman is not related to this child at all. There are two other children in the home. All three children have the same mother and different fathers. The second child was born when the mother was dating the "guardian's" son and he has been taken in as his own son. The third child is actually the child of the son and therefore the grandson of the guardian. She has made it clear by her actions and the things that she says that she does not want the oldest child (who is staying at my house right now) to live with them any longer. He is currently 16 years old. When he had a job, she made him sign over his paychecks to her. He says that he has about $200 left from the money that he earned but he cannot get it from her. I have put off talking to her because I want to have some legal knowledge about the situation before I speak to her so that I know if she is trying to scare me. She works as a receptionist/secretary at a lawyers office. Several people from our church have had occasion to speak with this woman and they all agree that she has some problems. I will not deny that this child who is at my house needs some counseling for some problems he has, but I cannot do anything until I have been given some legal rights. Can she be guilty of abandoning him? Can I apply to be an emergency foster parent and request that he be placed with me until the court decides what to do? If he becomes a foster child, will he have medical coverage that will allow him to get counseling for his emotional problems? This boy has never felt that he was loved by anyone or that he was part of a family. He is very loving and wants to remain in our home. What should I do?

To tjroy, unfortunately, you are stuck unless your parents agree otherwise.

To psullivan, no, it is not legal to abandon a child. HOWEVER, they made appropriate arrangements for his care, so technically, he was not abandoned. You could try to get DFS/DSS (whatever your state calls it) involved by calling them and telling them that this child and his belongings were just dumped like trash. Tell them also that the police directed that the child could stay there, but you know that you have no legal rights to keep this child. At this point, if you have agreed to care for him, and his current guardians have agreed that he can stay, then DSS will likely not get involved and tell you to pursue custody privately through the civil court system.

As for the counseling end of things, try calling the local chaper of the YMCA. They can direct you as how to obtain free therapy for him, although, legally, I don't know if you can do that because you are not his guardian.

Good luck with this young man, and remember, it is much easier to build a boy than to repair a man.