Legal age of independence... under certain conditions

Illinois -

I'm 17 years old and graduate high school on May 30th of this year.
My family is moving to a new state and I do not want to go.
I don't like the way that things are run in my house and I don't want to move away from everything I know and love.
I plan on going to college next year and am moving in to a dorm there.
With all financial issues aside is there anything stopping me from just moving out and going to college here?
Can my mom try to take me back with her if I'm in school on a college dorm?
How can I make that work?

To be legally independent, you would have to be emancipated. To achieve this, you would need to demonstrate to the court your maturity and your ability to take care of yourself financially.

Without parental assistance, how do you expect to pay for college, books, food, housing and transportation?

You cannot avoid the financial questions. The state does not want to create a situation where you qualify for government assistance because you choose to move out.

is there anything stopping me from just moving out and going to college here?

Yes.

Until you are 18, you cannot legally move out without your parent's consent.

End of story.

The summer before my oldest sister's senior year of high school, my family moved from a medium sized town to a large city about 100 miles away. She was just about to turn 17 and was very upset about leaving everyone she knew for her last year of high school. The parents of one of her friends offered to let her live with them for that year and after much agonizing, my parents agreed. It was hard on my mom, but it really worked out best for everyone.

OP, do you think there is anyone you could stay with until you graduate who your parents would know they could trust and rely on to take care of and look after you? When is your family moving, anyway? May 30 is just a few weeks away, It hardly makes sense to uproot you and get you into a different school just in time to graduate. Afterward you could spend the summer with your family in their new home and then start college.

AshleyChristine said:

I don't like the way that things are run in my house.

Click to expand...

First, it is not YOUR house it belongs to your parents.


Second, like it was already stated you cannot go anywhere without parental permission until you are 18. Have you talked to your parents will they let you stay somewhere else and allow you to go to school then?

As it was also cautioned in another post I would be careful about upsetting your parents on a situation like this as they do hold for you the things you will need when you are in college.