[c_kay]

Hello I'm Crista,
I don't get along with my dad; at all. He yells at me when he is home, and when he isn't home my sister is the one yelling at me. I used to be in therapy but I had to stop going because my dad is to cheap to pay for it. My mom and I don't talk to each other any more. She sticks up for her new husband and not for her own children (my sister and I both stopped talking to her). But my question is; What are the steps I need to take in getting emancipated?
About me:
I'm 16
Tired of my dad's no stop yelling, grounding me for stupid little stuff! (he used to be in the army and so he is super strict)
Live in Texas
I have a part time job I also go to school (high school)
I don't have a place to live, not yet, I'm still figuring things out
And I'm still looking for a car.

So pleasse help me! I need help getting emancipated
And the only reason I am thinking about emansipation is because I don't want to leave the ones that I love and those that love me by suicide(which I HAVE thought about many times!)

~Crista~

[Wondergirl]

How long before you turn 18?

Do you know what being emancipated means, what it all involves?

[firdi52]

I think ,the first thing you should try to do is try to accept all that happened in your life because it can make you stronger and feel better.Even you can not change them but you still can change your ownlife.Networking ,find more friends can make you get a lot of information about what you looking for and chance.But you must still carefully because not all new friends are good.

[Jake2008]

What 16 year old with parent problems wouldn't want to be emancipated.

But, it is not as simple as being declared an emancipated minor. Life does not just automatically provide for you.

You generally have to be able to support yourself, and provide for yourself financially. You must attend school. Unless you have a full time job, and can prove that you can make your way as an independent person, it isn't likely a judge would allow emancipation. Nor do your reasons from what you've said, justify your goal.

If you seek welfare to support yourself, the reasons you have stated so far, don't sound like enough to justify tax dollars being spent to provide food, shelter, and clothing. Think about it, you want to be an adult, but do you have the means to do so completely on your own?

You don't get along with your dad, and you don't get along with your sister, and you don't get along with your mother. You stated that the only other option to emancipation is suicide, which leaves a whole lot of questions in itself about your emotional health.

I don't know why you were in therapy, or whether you are not continuing because your dad is too cheap to pay for it as you said. There are other ways to go about seeking help, on your own, to help you resolve conflicts and problems at home.

You are in high school, and have access to counselling, or a counsellor through the school. You can visit any women's organization for assistance, guidance, and counselling to deal with your thoughts of suicide, and your frustration with your father.

If you can, enlist the help of a trusted family friend, or relative, or a friends' parent, to assist you in opening up some meaningful avenue to express yourself to your father. See if you can't calmly talk to him yourself, and set up a meeting to do just that, without anybody else, just the two of you. Talk, and listen, without anger or judgment, and see if you are capable of instigating some positive changes in your home.

Emancipation, in my opinion, should be at the bottom of the list of things to do, to solve problems of communication. And communication with your father may just be the key to solving some of your issues. Not yelling, but talking in a mature way.

If you Google emancipation of a minor, there are over a million hits. You will find everything you need to educate yourself, and links to specific legal requirements to your State. Wanting this, and being legally able to meet the requirements are two different things as you will see.

Please try harder to resolve conflicts within your family, and seek help where help is available. You do not have to be alone, and feel that you have no options other than the extreme measures you have mentioned here.