Help! Parents kicked 17 year old male out of house

[bighearted]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? GA

My friends son is 17 (a junior in HS) and prior to Christmas he was told to "find a new place to live and a new mom". He has been staying with a friend in FL, but wants to come back "home", get back into school, JROTC and make something out of his life. He asked if he could stay with us. I know it was a tense home situation (step dad has hit him a couple of times for being "disrespectful", but it was never reported to authorities), but to me that is no reason to kick a child out of their home.

We have room (physically, emotionally) for him, and are working on the financial, but need to know about the legalities. Do his parents need to provide notarized paperwork so we can get medical treatment if he is sick? Do his parents need to keep him on their insurance? Do they need to contribute for his basic needs (clothing, shoes, etc)? To be clear - I am not looking to make money, I expect my bills to go up - but clothing is expensive (even at Walmart it adds up) and that is the one item I worry about.

Looking for details on what needs to be done so we are not breaking laws... I am guessing we are not harboring a runaway as they told him to leave, and conversations between the mom and child have not resolved the issues. But, I prefer to stay out of jail while helping this kid...

 

[Zigner]

From a "been-there, done-that" perspective, I can guaran-dang-tee you that you aren't getting the full/real story from this boy.

 

[anearthw]

Have you actually spoken to the youth's mother yourself?

 

[bighearted]

From a "been-there, done-that" perspective, I can guaran-dang-tee you that you aren't getting the full/real story from this boy.

Have you actually spoken to the youth's mother yourself?

No doubt there is more to it! Our plans as of now are to talk with the mother and step dad and hear their side of it. After that we then go to the high school to make sure that we can get him back into class. And then we come up with the house rules, and get him to sign off on it... ::sigh:: Again - just wondering if it turns out that they did indeed tell him to get out, what do we need to do to protect ourselves from being arrested...

 

[Silverplum]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? GA

My friends son is 17 (a junior in HS) and prior to Christmas he was told to "find a new place to live and a new mom". He has been staying with a friend in FL, but wants to come back "home", get back into school, JROTC and make something out of his life. He asked if he could stay with us. I know it was a tense home situation (step dad has hit him a couple of times for being "disrespectful", but it was never reported to authorities), but to me that is no reason to kick a child out of their home.

We have room (physically, emotionally) for him, and are working on the financial, but need to know about the legalities. Do his parents need to provide notarized paperwork so we can get medical treatment if he is sick? Do his parents need to keep him on their insurance? Do they need to contribute for his basic needs (clothing, shoes, etc)? To be clear - I am not looking to make money, I expect my bills to go up - but clothing is expensive (even at Walmart it adds up) and that is the one item I worry about.

Looking for details on what needs to be done so we are not breaking laws... I am guessing we are not harboring a runaway as they told him to leave, and conversations between the mom and child have not resolved the issues. But, I prefer to stay out of jail while helping this kid...

Where's his father? What's the status with him?

 

[RRevak]

How close is he to turning 18?

 

[Silverplum]

No doubt there is more to it! Our plans as of now are to talk with the mother and step dad and hear their side of it. After that we then go to the high school to make sure that we can get him back into class. And then we come up with the house rules, and get him to sign off on it... ::sigh:: Again - just wondering if it turns out that they did indeed tell him to get out, what do we need to do to protect ourselves from being arrested...

Stepdad is not a legal entity in this equation. You need to talk with both PARENTS.

 

[bighearted]

Where's his father? What's the status with him?

Father is out of the picture.

How close is he to turning 18?

~6 months

On the stepfather... The stepfather legally adopted him 3 years ago. So, our intentions are to talk to them and go from there...

 

[RRevak]

Stepdad is not a legal entity in this equation. You need to talk with both PARENTS.

Although no, step dad isn't a legal entity, its still necessary to speak with him regarding his recall of events since he's the one living with the kid and part of the issue at home.

 

[RRevak]

Father is out of the picture.



~6 months

On the stepfather... The stepfather legally adopted him 3 years ago. So, our intentions are to talk to them and go from there...

If he's 6 months from turning 18 then I personally feel he should be sent home. In 6 months he's going to be a legal adult and can make whatever decisions about his life that he wants. If he wants to move in with you then he can without his parents say so. If you really want to help, I think the time to do so will be then rather than now. IMHO

 

[Silverplum]

Father is out of the picture.



~6 months

On the stepfather... The stepfather legally adopted him 3 years ago. So, our intentions are to talk to them and go from there...

Then the legal term for stepdad is now DAD. That's what adoption accomplishes.

Legal site: terms mean what they mean. I wasted my time looking for a legal entity who no longer exists.

 

[anearthw]

Cart before the horse in terms of expenses. Talk to his parents. He may very well be listed as missing, you don't know, because this kid is not going to tell you the whole story. If he is missing and a true runaway? Whoever he is with in FL might be committing a felony. ALL runaways will tell you there is some sort of abuse or mean mommy - no runaway says they left home because their mom was awesome.

 

[bighearted]

Then the legal term for stepdad is now DAD. That's what adoption accomplishes.

Legal site: terms mean what they mean. I wasted my time looking for a legal entity who no longer exists.

My apologies.

Cart before the horse in terms of expenses. Talk to his parents. He may very well be listed as missing, you don't know, because this kid is not going to tell you the whole story. If he is missing and a true runaway? Whoever he is with in FL might be committing a felony. ALL runaways will tell you there is some sort of abuse or mean mommy - no runaway says they left home because their mom was awesome.

We are pretty certain from what we know that he is not listed as missing. We are meeting parents this evening to get their take on it. Until we hear that there is no way that we can make a decision...

If they are indeed kicking him out, I am prepared to take him in, just hope that I can parents to put it in writing...

 

[anearthw]

What you are looking for is temporary guardianship, which includes medical consent and ability to enroll in school.

https://www.gaprobate.org/guardianship.php

 

[Zigner]

This may not even need a temp guardianship. This may be accomplished by a simple power of attorney. That's another "been-there done-that" for me