At 17, how would I move out of my house in MO to GF's mothers house in MA? Legally.

[justalayman]

Darn ... clicked wrong button - didn't mean to "like" this, tried to reply.

Anyway, if mom and dad report him as a runaway, and the law permits MA cops to collect runaway juveniles, they will - and, legally, they may be obligated to. They would turn the child over to child services, and then child services would make arrangements for repatriation or other arrangements as the parents and the state of MO might choose.

If we got a runaway minor from MO here, we would be obligated to take him into custody and turn him over to child services. They would also have to either return him home or place him into a group home or foster care until arrangements for his return could be made. In my state we are unable to release an unsupported minor child onto the streets.

But, as has been pointed out, if mom and dad are supportive of his actions, then there will be no runaway report. No missing person report means no initial police involvement. And the issue is entirely moot unless he gets into legal trouble or needs medical care in MA.

that makes no sense Carl. If it is not against the law for a 17 yo to leave their parent's home, then he has committed no crime. There is no place to return him to so what are you going to do, just take him to the state line of MO and dump him? There are no actions for MO to take unless the child gets into legal trouble so they will not do anything with him. You have nobody to return him to.

 

[CdwJava]

that makes no sense Carl. If it is not against the law for a 17 yo to leave their parent's home, then he has committed no crime.

Not necessarily. Some states (such as mine) do not make it a crime to run away from home, but being out of a parent's control can result in a detention and the eventual order of a court to comply or face criminal charges.

I cannot speak for the laws in all states, but some states make it a crime to be incorrigable. Even if the child cannot be returned for being a runaway, there might be an angle to be pursued by the parents or the police should they want it. We often refer to these matters as "gray" areas in the law because they are fuzzy and can be confusing until a court gets involved.

There is no place to return him to so what are you going to do, just take him to the state line of MO and dump him?

MA social services would likely place him there until the parents arranged to get him either on their own or through MO social services. I don't know MA law on the matter, but if he were to come to CA we could not just release him onto the street. If MO won't come and get him, then MA might have to place him and then they might even charge mom and dad a fee for said placement until they came to get him. And, in my state, it is a misdemeanor to willfully fail to provide for the care and custody of aminor child when instructed to do so by social services or law enforcement.

Also, as I understand it there are compacts in place in each state where they will make arrangements to collect runaway children from another state. What they might do with him when he gets back to MO would be up to MO and the parents. All MA has to do is find a way to properly and legally place the child. If all were well and good leaving him at the friend's house, that might be fine ... though, if that were the case, then he might never have been picked up in the first place unless he required medical treatment or committed a crime.

 

[anearthw]

You think living with your "mother-in-law" is how to live out your freedom and the stresses of being told what to do, when to do by your mother??? Mom should let you go and let you experience one of the first harsh lessons of reality.