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Skye Craig
Terry Alston
Emancipation, Juvenile Delinquency
11/8/12
The Study of Emancipation
When two people decide to have a child they are taking vowels to take care of that human
being for eighteen years or more which means providing them with a safe home to live, a solid
education, and a healthy lifestyle. Not all people think about that when having a child, some
decide to bring another human being into the world knowing that they will not take care of that
child nor care about it. Kids who are put in this situation have a way out and for this exact reason
emancipation became available for minors.
Emancipation laws actually came about in the 1800s for slaves. This law was put in place
for slaves to be free from their owners. Before 1973 the law applied to minors as well. Many
states had the legal minority age as 21 although eventually the age changed to18. When a child
decides to do what is sometimes called divorcing their parents or legal guardian it really
depends what state they are and what rules and procedures they must follow. The hardest thing to
do is to prove that the parents and or guardian are unfit to take care of the child. Not only does
the care takers have to be proven unfit but the kids themselves have to prove that they are
responsible enough and if they can handle being on there own. If a child is granted emancipation
then the parent or guardian loses total control over education and financial issues.

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Although a child may be emancipated that does not mean that they have complete
freedom as an adult. States like Pennsylvania and New York only give you the freedom of being
in charge of your finances and having some control over property. Many states do not allow the
child to live with the parents or guardians they just removed themselves from. With parental
consent the court suggest that the kid moves out of the house away from the parents. Permission
is needed so the parents cannot charge the child with running away from home. If the child wants
to get married, they must get permission from their parents even though they are technically on
their own. This applies to the child if they are under the age of eighteen. An emancipated kid
does not get special treatment when it comes to other laws, drinking is still prohibited until the
age of twenty-one and they cannot vote until they turn eighteen. Most states prefer that the child
to be at least sixteen years of age before filing for emancipation. However, there are some states
like California who would let you file at the age of fourteen, depending on the situatution.
There are few different levels of emancipation including implied, implied partial,
and express emancipation. Implied emancipation is applied when a parent abandons the child and
does not provide proper care and support. Implied partial emancipation is when the child has
certain purposes or a particular reason to be emancipated only for a period of time. Another
reason may be if the child is pregnant. Express emancipation is probably the easiest to deal with
for the court, parent(s)/guardian, and child. Express is when the child and parent(s)/guardian
agree that the child may leave home and get a job and have complete control over their assets.
There is no fighting or disagreeing from either party in cases such as these.
As for the emancipation law in Maryland there is partial and complete emancipation.
Complete basically means that the parent is no longer legally responsible for the child anymore.
One way to get emancipated is by waiting until the child turns eighteen where they are legally

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allowed to do what they want without a parent(s)/guardians permission. When a parent commits
misconduct by mistreating the child or by not supporting them, then the child can take action in
court if they can prove their case. There was a case 1943 where an eighteen year old boy took his
farther to court to get emancipated and won because of his fathers brutal punishments. In 1943
the legal majority age was twenty-one, but at the young age of 18 the boy moved out and lived
on his own. There really is no right way to go about trying to become emancipated anyone can
petition the court but it depends on the situation and the reasoning for wanting it. A person may
obtain emancipation without taking it to court only if the parent/guardian and child can make an
agreement that the child must work and handle their own affairs or the parent/guardian may ask
the child to leave and be on their own. In some cases the child just left and their parent did not
care. If the child and parent make an agreement they should seek the help of an attorney so there
is no confusion later on down the road.
In most emancipation cases, it is usually because the parent or guardian has done
something wrong. If the matter involves the parent abusing or neglecting the child then Child
Protective Services are called in to take over. When a case is presented to the court, there must
be facts, documentation to help prove their case. The more incidents a child has, the more likely
a judge will waiver in childs favor. But what makes or breaks the case is the reasons the child is
filing for emancipation and what the parents role in it is. Now in some cases a parent does not
wish to be responsible for their child any longer. Some parents file for emancipation so they can
stop having to pay child support. The only way they can do that is to prove that child can care for
themselves. Most of the time a parent may stop paying child support if the child is over the age
of 18 but there are some exceptions. If the child is over the age of eighteen and is in college most
of the time the parent will have to continue paying child support. Another reason a parent may

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choose to emancipate is because the child is in and out of the juvenile court system and out of
control. The parent or guardian may not want to be held responsible for the actions of the child.
My personal opinion on emancipation is that if a child is being neglected or abused then
that child should most definitely be emancipated from their parent. A parents duty is to support
and care for their child. Child abuse can consist of not just physical, but emotional abuse and can
affect the child in the present and future. An abused child may have a problem trusting people
and the child may lash out and end up getting in a lot of trouble with the law. In some cases child
abuse continues on within their own family, child abuse can be a never ending cycle. I believe
for some kids they need to be disconnected from their parents all together. In January of 2002
Ciara Jobes of only fifteen was found dead in her kitchen floor in Maryland. They discovered
that she had over seven hundred injuries on her body and only weighed 73 pounds. What I found
extremely odd about this case is that the mother had and obtained legal guardianship over Ciara
and how someone would leave a child in the care alone with someone as sick as she was. The
mother had received federal aid for schizophrenia and bipolar. Ciara should have been
emancipated and taken away from her mom a long time before this could happen. If Ciara had
been emancipated she would have not had to have any contact with her mother at all she could
have begun high school and lived her live.
So before another case of child abuse or even abuse so bad that the child ends up dead I
think that a child should be able to get on their own and away from that environment. I know that
not all emancipation cases are as serious as life or death but for some kids that could be the
answer to freedom. I disagree with a parent being able to emancipate their own child from
themselves. If you decided to have a child they are your responsibility for the rest of your life.
The law may say at the age of eighteen years old they are considered adults but they still need

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help from their parents for a few years after the age of eighteen. You can expect a child who just
graduated high school more than likely who doesnt have a job to just be able to put themselves
through college and start their life. They will need help from a caring and supportive parent until
they are about twenty-one twenty-two years of age, right around the time they would finish
college.
The emancipation law might seem meaningless too someone unless they are
interested in becoming completely responsible for their assets but take a moment to think about
the bigger picture. If an abused child can get emancipated from their bad parents all they need is
a little support to move forward and forget the past, once emancipated for the hectic environment
the parents have no control over them anymore.

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Work cited page

1)

Cornell University Law School. (n.d.). Emancipation of minors. Retrieved from

http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/emancipation_of_minors

2)

Baer, K., & Craven, M. (06 1). The people. Retrieved from
http://www.peoples-law.org/children/emancipation/emancipation home.htm

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