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Legal Responsibilities while child is staying at ones home

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rtaa2005

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Arizona

A friend of mine has a 16 year old daughter. A very good friend of hers "K" has been staying at their home recently, she is also 16 years old. K's parents have joint custody although her Father is pretty much absent from her life. Her mother is very absorbed in her own life and not much of a mother, but that doesn't have much bearing on the legality of this so, within the last 6 months her mother entered into her 3rd Marriage to a man she had known for 3 months they are now divorced/annulled not sure exactly. Anyway she has set her sights on a new man and moved to Arkansas. Her daughter "K" had the option of moving there with her mom or moving in with her dad. If she were to live with her father she would have to share a bed with him and live in an apartment with his 2 older male roommates. I can't be certain but I'm pretty confident that there is some drug abuse in the apartment Alcohol is 100 percent not sure of others.

Are there any legal situations that my friend should look out for? As I'm sure everyone already knows there is a lot that goes into the care of a child more than just the financial burden my friend is assuming. She obviously needs parents but K seems to be doing well this last month or so interms of school and grades. If K gets into any trouble can my friend be held responsible? If her father discovers the situation and decides he wants to pick up K my friend has no intention of keeping her against his will but is she doing anything legally wrong until that happens?

Based on what I've read on these forums I have a pretty good idea of what to expect if I were to ask for advice on the situation but input from a parenting standpoint is welcome just as much as legal advice. Thanks in advance
 


mistoffolees

Senior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Arizona

A friend of mine has a 16 year old daughter. A very good friend of hers "K" has been staying at their home recently, she is also 16 years old. K's parents have joint custody although her Father is pretty much absent from her life. Her mother is very absorbed in her own life and not much of a mother, but that doesn't have much bearing on the legality of this so, within the last 6 months her mother entered into her 3rd Marriage to a man she had known for 3 months they are now divorced/annulled not sure exactly. Anyway she has set her sights on a new man and moved to Arkansas. Her daughter "K" had the option of moving there with her mom or moving in with her dad. If she were to live with her father she would have to share a bed with him and live in an apartment with his 2 older male roommates. I can't be certain but I'm pretty confident that there is some drug abuse in the apartment Alcohol is 100 percent not sure of others.

Are there any legal situations that my friend should look out for? As I'm sure everyone already knows there is a lot that goes into the care of a child more than just the financial burden my friend is assuming. She obviously needs parents but K seems to be doing well this last month or so interms of school and grades. If K gets into any trouble can my friend be held responsible? If her father discovers the situation and decides he wants to pick up K my friend has no intention of keeping her against his will but is she doing anything legally wrong until that happens?

Based on what I've read on these forums I have a pretty good idea of what to expect if I were to ask for advice on the situation but input from a parenting standpoint is welcome just as much as legal advice. Thanks in advance
Any minor child can stay with family friends as long as the parents agree. So, as long as it's OK with Mom and Dad, they can't get in trouble for just keeping the child.

As soon as Mom or Dad asks for the child back, they have to let her go.

There are other issues. What if the child gets hurt on their property? Or hurts someone else? Or causes property damage. I would definitely contact my insurance agent about those things.

Clearly, if the child gets sick, she would not be covered on the insurance of the people who are watching her, so medical expenses must be addressed.

Then there's the issue of allegations of misbehavior. What happens of someone alleges one of the adults of abusing the child? I would think long and hard before having someone else living in my home for an extended time - there are too may false allegations of sexual and other abuse - and these are very difficult and expensive to fight.

It's not likely to be a problem, but if it is, the consequences are huge.
 

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