Here's my situation.. can i get emancipated?
I am a 17 year old girl living with a mom, dad, and 8 year old sister in arkansas. I currently have a job to support myself, making about a thousand dollars a month. The disadvantage is that it's at my dad's company. I have a car but my parents pay for it until i'm out of the house. My dad has hit me several times, slaps in the face and once a punch in the arm that left a bruise. It's not so much physical , it;s that i'm completely terrified of him. He almost broke my door down once &once i had to run out of my house and keep him inside until he calmed down. I willingly put myself in therapy. If emancipated, i would have to find a new job but even if i made just 250 a week (which i have options like that) and that could give me enough money to make a car payment, health insurance, food, clothing, & car insurance. i already have about 1300 dollars in my bank account.ill have to switch schools. But ive already talked to the schools & i can do it. Do you think emancipation is possible?
Answers:
"I willingly put myself in therapy." This means you know you have some problems to work out that are your own issues. I commend you for taking this first crucial step. A change in where you live will not change these underlying problems. They will follow you to your new environment plus the stresses of school and putting a roof over your head, food and clothing.
My advice would be to find a relative near or far you could live with and continue to sort things out in therapy. You are less than one year away from being a legal adult anyhow. Life will not get any better without completing high school. I am sure by what you describe that there is a lot of family dysfunction going on by all parties.
Removing yourself from immediate harm would be wise but being emancipated is probably the last resort. Talk to grandparents or aunts and uncles for a safe alternative place to live and complete your studies while sorting out why the family behaves the way they do and how YOU can change to make a difference. Changing my own behavior is far easier to do than trying to change someone else. That will happen easier in the care of another relative than 110% of your focus in trying to survive.
Additional comments:
Actually sit down with your relatives even if they are out of state and talk about options. Explain to them how life is at home. I know you are worried about your younger sister and that is a valid concern. Try even a summer with the relatives and see if things don't settle down for your sister. She is a victim as well to your abuse. Anything you can do to reduce the tension will benefit her as well. If things are just intolerable. talk to your therapist to see what he can recommend. Possibly even Social Services mandated supervision and home visits to make sure the environment is safe for the children. If things are not in the interest of the children they will pull you and your sister and pay for placement in a foster home... or possibly make payments to your friend's mother if she agrees to take you in.
People who try to control every aspect of other people's life do so because of great insecurity in their own life. By controlling you he doesn't have for focus on himself and his own fears. He is trying to control you because he himself was a victim of being harmed. Controlling you is his way of trying to avoid being harmed again. In the process... he ends up harming others to repeat this again to their own children.
Mom is as quiet as a mouse because your dad just screams and controls her too. If you sit down and ask her why she married this guy I'll bet you find that her life growing up was very similar in that she had no voice as a child. We repeat what we know before we accept something healthy yet unfamiliar.
I am glad you are seeing someone to try to sort this all out. These types of environments are the major reasons children turn to drugs. They feel unloved, isolated, alone, few options. You sound like you are looking for positive answers. Good luck and ask questions to those you know just like you are doing in here. By reaching out to others, there is no problem in the world that is unsolvable.
Bob
That is really a question you need to pose to a lawyer or a counselor. They are the only ones who can give you a definitive answer that can really help you.
you never said anything about money for your own place
go to court and ask for it. you have a job and are already acting like an adult.
go to findlaw.com
www.findlaw.com
fifty state laws on this subject.
good luck.
http://www.law.cornell.edu/topics/table_...
yes but rid your self of debts to help you reduce the risks of emancipation. Your father has no right to hit you, go to the police and report him, but do not suffer him any longer. good luck my heart goes with you.
oh! honey how sad!is there not a relative where you can go?could the government help you with rent? good luck
Since you are 17 there is no need for you to get emancipated, im not sure how laws work in Arkansas, but in Texas you are of legal age to move out if you choose. I really suggest you find a different job quickly if this is what you plan to do and maybe look into a different vehicle since your parents pay for the one you have. Also, it might be a good idea to find a trusted friend to move in with you and share expenses, as $1,000 a month doesnt go far.
Laws, if they exist at all, depend on the state you live in, so there's no way to say for sure if it's possible. However, it sounds like you should report your father to the police. A man who hits his daughter shouldn't be allowed out of prison.
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