emancipation help

[confusedteen]

hello every1 that is reading this. i am 17 years old and from pensylvania. on february 27th,2005, my mother kicked me out of her house so i moved in with my father.  my father has not been there all of my life and he and i do not get along very well. he racked up bills(i owe 121.88 on myb cell phone bill because he did not send money in(my money) for it) and he took $330 out of my checking account without telling me. he doesn't even know that i know he took it and now i am -$38 in my bank account. we got into a huge fight 2 days ago and he got in my face and started screaming at me and was like "what are you gonna do, cry???????" and he repeatedly got in my face. i cannot handle living there because he tries to control me way to much and he takes from me without asking. granted he is my father but i have a job and i make my own money. the money that was in my checking account was mine, not his. i put it in there. i wanted to be emancipated, but it will take about 6 months and i will be 18 in 3.5 months. i can no longer stay in that house but he will not let me leave. my stuff has been packed for 2 days. i want to go stay with my best friend or my boy friend but he won't let me leave the house. is there anything i can do because i can't stay there any longer. please help!

[Kitty C.]

Emancipation isn't the issue here, because IMO you are in an emergency situation.  Do you have a pastor or teacher you can confide in?  Given that you are so close to turning 18, it would be harder than it's worth to have you put in foster care, but there must be some kind of services that should be available to you.  But beings that you are still legally classified as a minor makes it tougher.

Find someone you can confide in, even if it's the cops.  You do NOT have to live that way.  As far as your acct., if your father's name was on the acct. jointly with you, then he has just as much right to it as you do.  So there won't be a whole lot you can do about that.  What I would recommend is closing that acct. and starting a new one, even in a different bank, in your name only.  Be careful, because there's always the possibility that your state does not allow minors to have private accts.  If that's the case, you'll have to grin and bear it and pay everything in cash for the next couple months until you do turn 18.

In the meantime, your biggest concern should not be the money, but the emotional and verbal abuse your father is giving you.  If, at anytime, you have felt threatened to the point that you think he might physically assault you (and a slap across the face is physical assault), then you need to get out of there NOW.  Talk to whomever you have to, but seek help, preferably from an adult who would have the means to be able to get you the help you need.  Talk to a professional who has or can deal with this type of issue.  And if you feel that your father is keeping you prisoner ('he won't let me leave the house'), then you need to call the cops NOW.  If he is ever gone while you are home, make arrangements to have some of your belongings removed from the house, but make ABSOLUTE sure that an adult accompanies you while you do this.

There is help out there, just make sure you do the right thing in obtaining it.  Going to your boyfriend or best friend for moral support is okay, but they cannot help you in making a change.  

[jilly]

Why did your Mom kick you out?

[Ref]

If you feel in danger, get out now. Go to a teacher, a friend's parent or anyone else over 18 you can trust.

I can relate to you. I was kicked out of my mom's when I was 16. My dad was not emotionally there for me, so even though I BEGGED him to let me live with him, he never retuned my calls about it.  I moved in with my best friend and her mom. It was a good deal. I paid $50 every other week in rent and I was the fixer-upper in the house.

The difference was that I wasn't forced to stay with my parents.

Do you think you are in any physical harm? If not, my advice is to stick it out. Spend all your time out with friends and at work. Keep your money in cash or a seperate bank account. It really isn't that long before you are legally emancipated. If you file for emancipation, it could take a couple of months to go through.

Take care
Ref

[wendl]

I moved out when I was 16 and lived with friends. My best friends daughter moved out at 16 as well, she had filed police reports as a runaway but the police did not make her return to her mothers or fathers.

Hang in there, talk to teacher etc, or see if they have a teen shelter you can go to until you can get into court.

Basically he cannot force you to remain in the house, you have the right to leave, when I left, I packed up and moved my belongings when my mom was at work and left her a note.

I truely understand how you feel, keep your chin up.

**These are my opinions, they are not legal advice**