[johnnyboy0897]

Okay I will start by saying that my parents divorced in 1995 when I was 5 years old, and my younger brother was 1. We were living in Oklahoma at the time, but my mom, my brother, and I moved to Ohio after the divorce (she received custody of us). We lived a wonderful life in Ohio for 8 years with my dad visiting us every 2 months. In the summer of 2003, my dad offered to buy a house for my mom and rent it out to her, in Nacogdoches, Texas (where he moved to after the divorce) so he could see us more often. So my mom gave us the choice, and my brother and I were totally cool with it, because my mom had always wanted a house. We were living in an apartment at the time, and I thought living in the same town meant seeing my dad more. So we moved in July in 2003. We were there until about October, and my move was having bouts of depression, having financial problems, and she still had not found a job that she stayed at for more than a week, we were all missing Ohio, so we decided to move back without letting my dad know, but he came to the house 2 days before we left and saw us packing up boxes, so he immediately went to town hall and filed to take custody of us. My mom had already paid for the moving truck and for her brothers plane tickets, he was supposed to help us move. She was flat broke after doing so, and had no choice but to go back to Ohio. Luckily she got her old job back right away, and eventually got another apartment. Me and my brother are now stuck here with my dad. I don't like it here and my plan was just to tough it out until I was 18. I decided that I wanted to go to college at Devry in Columbus, Ohio where my mom lives. I am 16 at the moment, and will be 17 in December. I was wondering if there was any possible way I could leave after this school year, finish my high school education on ECOT (It’s some kind of homeschooling thing that you do on the computer.) in Ohio, either living with my mom, or on my own. Keep in mind that I will be 17 when I want to do all of this. I don't want to get me or my mom into any trouble. Please reply if you can help.

[ScottGem]

Lets go back a step. What happened during the hearing where your father obtained custody? I'm surprised that he was granted custody under the circumstances. It takes a lot to change custody. And if you and your brother wanted to stay with mom, the court should have paid attention to that.

But to answer your question, no you can't leave. Not until you are 18. So what your mom needs to do is fight to get custody back.

[macksmom]

Your mom should file to get custody back and have you both moved back to Ohio.

You also could try to be emancipated through the courts... I am not sure on the specifics of that, but it is something you could look into.