What is the name of your state? Georgia.
I'm quite sure that everyone here has at one point in time or another come across a topic detailing a child wishing to leave the home of his/her parents due to something or another, and I'm well aware of the usual path that such cases follow. The matter I'd like to discuss is a bit different, but still along those lines.
I am current seventeen years old, living in Georgia with my mother. I will be turning eighteen in less than a month (happy birthday to me). My girlfriend, on the other hand, is sixteen years old and living with her grandparents in South Carolina, less than four hours from where I currently reside. We've been together nearly a year now, and we're both very much devoted to one another. My family (I.E., my mother and my sister) have taken quite a liking to my girlfriend and consider her as much a part of our family as can be, despite the physical distance between us. They recognize the situation for what it is. They realize that being together is what makes us both happy, and they have grown accustomed to our relationship. The case is not so with my girlfriend's grandmother (whom currently has legal custody of my girlfriend, transferred to her after the divorce of her parents and with consent from her previous legal guardian, her mother). The generation gap between my girlfriend and her grandmother has caused a great deal of headaches for everyone, including my girlfriend, myself and even my girlfriend's grandfather, who doesn't agree with the way the grandmother treats my girlfriend in regards to our relationship and in general. Her grandmother simply doesn't understand, and I find it easy to see why; she was raised quite differently in a very different time. In many ways, I do understand her grandmother's logic, and I can see where she is coming from as well. She has come to the point of treating my girlfriend very poorly at times, to the extent where she slapped her across the face earlier tonight because she had been on the phone with me for too long. Luckily, her grandfather stepped in and said "what can we, as a family, do to stop this?" at which point the grandmother retorted with a snearing comment and stormed her way out of the room.
Now that I've provided a bit of background information for a better understanding on your part, I'll get to my question(s). My girlfriend and I have discussed a certain idea at length, and it's come time for me to put aside the late night reading of laws and statutes and seek person-to-person council. We would both like for me to bring her here to live with me in my mother's home at the end of this school year (I refuse to do anything that would interfere with her schooling). My mother herself has agreed to provide for and support her as a part of our own family in the event that she came to live with us. I would, at that point, write my paychecks over to my mother as a means of both rent and support for the extra person living in our home. My mother went through a situation not too terribly different when she left home (New York) at 17 years old to live with my father, her then-boyfriend in Georgia. Her grandmother contacted the police and asked what could be done about it, and recieved the answer that while they could technically retrieve her and escort her back home, they couldn't make her stay. So, our plan as of now (if we decide to go through with it) is for me to go and get her this summer and bring her here. I have read as much as I can find, and one thing I do know for a fact is that South Carolina has no real statutes concerning the emancipation of minors. To my knowledge, cases like these are handled on a case-by-case basis. My main questions are; her grandmother will undoubtedly disagree with this, and will attempt to stop her from coming to live with my mother and I. Can she do that? In the event that she could, to what extent would she have to fight it? I want to know if she could flat out say "no" and the police would be forced to retrieve her and bring her back to her grandmother's home, or if she would have to take it to court. I highly doubt she would take the time, effort and money to go through any legal procedures to get her grandaughter back; she's expressed on many ocassions how badly she wishes to get rid of her to begin with (though, the old woman would give her up to anyone but me, of course). If she did, to everyone's surprise, take it through courts and go through all of that trouble, would I be able to present our case and take the opportunity to prove to the judge that my girlfriend is in just as good hands with myself and my mother as she had been with her grandparents, and that she is being provided for and supported by my family without any obligation from her grandparents for any assistance whatsoever, including day to day expenses, schooling, and everything else that comes with. Would this be the case, or would the court automatically call for my girlfriend's return 'home' without a chance of any ruling otherwise? My hope is that, if we can prove to a judge that my girlfriend would be taken care of properly in my home, this would be grounds for a legal emancipation without parental guardian consent (without her grandmother's consent), in light of the situation regarding the child's own wishes and the fact that she would be in perfectly good hands. It wouldn't be a case of going from a good home to a bad home, or a bad home to a good home, but an unhappy home to an ecstatically happy one.
Any and all feedback on this matter would be greatly appreciated. I'm very interested in what you all have to say on this matter, and what you think can be done for or against me in this case. I'd like to discuss this with people who undoubtedly know more than I do and can provide me with real answers to my very real questions. If anyone has any questions as to specifics regarding this matter, or if you'd like to know more about my situation before giving an answer, I'll be happy to provide as much info as I possibly can to get the best, most accurate advice that I can.
Thanks in advance, everyone. My name is Jacob, by the way.
[EDIT: Oops, I almost forgot. Ron Paul for President, 2008! A vote for Paul is a vote for you and yours; a vote for America and Americans! That's all.]
I'm quite sure that everyone here has at one point in time or another come across a topic detailing a child wishing to leave the home of his/her parents due to something or another, and I'm well aware of the usual path that such cases follow. The matter I'd like to discuss is a bit different, but still along those lines.
I am current seventeen years old, living in Georgia with my mother. I will be turning eighteen in less than a month (happy birthday to me). My girlfriend, on the other hand, is sixteen years old and living with her grandparents in South Carolina, less than four hours from where I currently reside. We've been together nearly a year now, and we're both very much devoted to one another. My family (I.E., my mother and my sister) have taken quite a liking to my girlfriend and consider her as much a part of our family as can be, despite the physical distance between us. They recognize the situation for what it is. They realize that being together is what makes us both happy, and they have grown accustomed to our relationship. The case is not so with my girlfriend's grandmother (whom currently has legal custody of my girlfriend, transferred to her after the divorce of her parents and with consent from her previous legal guardian, her mother). The generation gap between my girlfriend and her grandmother has caused a great deal of headaches for everyone, including my girlfriend, myself and even my girlfriend's grandfather, who doesn't agree with the way the grandmother treats my girlfriend in regards to our relationship and in general. Her grandmother simply doesn't understand, and I find it easy to see why; she was raised quite differently in a very different time. In many ways, I do understand her grandmother's logic, and I can see where she is coming from as well. She has come to the point of treating my girlfriend very poorly at times, to the extent where she slapped her across the face earlier tonight because she had been on the phone with me for too long. Luckily, her grandfather stepped in and said "what can we, as a family, do to stop this?" at which point the grandmother retorted with a snearing comment and stormed her way out of the room.
Now that I've provided a bit of background information for a better understanding on your part, I'll get to my question(s). My girlfriend and I have discussed a certain idea at length, and it's come time for me to put aside the late night reading of laws and statutes and seek person-to-person council. We would both like for me to bring her here to live with me in my mother's home at the end of this school year (I refuse to do anything that would interfere with her schooling). My mother herself has agreed to provide for and support her as a part of our own family in the event that she came to live with us. I would, at that point, write my paychecks over to my mother as a means of both rent and support for the extra person living in our home. My mother went through a situation not too terribly different when she left home (New York) at 17 years old to live with my father, her then-boyfriend in Georgia. Her grandmother contacted the police and asked what could be done about it, and recieved the answer that while they could technically retrieve her and escort her back home, they couldn't make her stay. So, our plan as of now (if we decide to go through with it) is for me to go and get her this summer and bring her here. I have read as much as I can find, and one thing I do know for a fact is that South Carolina has no real statutes concerning the emancipation of minors. To my knowledge, cases like these are handled on a case-by-case basis. My main questions are; her grandmother will undoubtedly disagree with this, and will attempt to stop her from coming to live with my mother and I. Can she do that? In the event that she could, to what extent would she have to fight it? I want to know if she could flat out say "no" and the police would be forced to retrieve her and bring her back to her grandmother's home, or if she would have to take it to court. I highly doubt she would take the time, effort and money to go through any legal procedures to get her grandaughter back; she's expressed on many ocassions how badly she wishes to get rid of her to begin with (though, the old woman would give her up to anyone but me, of course). If she did, to everyone's surprise, take it through courts and go through all of that trouble, would I be able to present our case and take the opportunity to prove to the judge that my girlfriend is in just as good hands with myself and my mother as she had been with her grandparents, and that she is being provided for and supported by my family without any obligation from her grandparents for any assistance whatsoever, including day to day expenses, schooling, and everything else that comes with. Would this be the case, or would the court automatically call for my girlfriend's return 'home' without a chance of any ruling otherwise? My hope is that, if we can prove to a judge that my girlfriend would be taken care of properly in my home, this would be grounds for a legal emancipation without parental guardian consent (without her grandmother's consent), in light of the situation regarding the child's own wishes and the fact that she would be in perfectly good hands. It wouldn't be a case of going from a good home to a bad home, or a bad home to a good home, but an unhappy home to an ecstatically happy one.
Any and all feedback on this matter would be greatly appreciated. I'm very interested in what you all have to say on this matter, and what you think can be done for or against me in this case. I'd like to discuss this with people who undoubtedly know more than I do and can provide me with real answers to my very real questions. If anyone has any questions as to specifics regarding this matter, or if you'd like to know more about my situation before giving an answer, I'll be happy to provide as much info as I possibly can to get the best, most accurate advice that I can.
Thanks in advance, everyone. My name is Jacob, by the way.
[EDIT: Oops, I almost forgot. Ron Paul for President, 2008! A vote for Paul is a vote for you and yours; a vote for America and Americans! That's all.]
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