Minor living on own with parental consent

[illini05]

My job is moving my family and I out of state this December during the holiday break. My oldest son is 17, a senior in high school, and wants to stay behind (in Iowa) to finish up his Spring semester. I don't blame him for wanting to do this since he is a senior, it's his last semester, and he's in the middle of some difficult AP classes. Both my wife and I are 100% fine with this and we have a few trustworthy families he could stay with. Once he's done with high school, he will move back in with us - at our new location - and then off to college.

So I guess my question is can my 17 yr old legally live with another family while my wife and I relocate out-of-state?

 

[quincy]

My job is moving my family and I out of state this December during the holiday break. My oldest son is 17, a senior in high school, and wants to stay behind (in Iowa) to finish up his Spring semester. I don't blame him for wanting to do this since he is a senior, it's his last semester, and he's in the middle of some difficult AP classes. Both my wife and I are 100% fine with this and we have a few trustworthy families he could stay with. Once he's done with high school, he will move back in with us - at our new location - and then off to college.

So I guess my question is can my 17 yr old legally live with another family while my wife and I relocate out-of-state?

Yes. With parental consent, it is legal for your 17-year-old to live with another family while he finishes up high-school.

You and your wife will want to draft and have signed by all parties an agreement that permits the other family to act in your stead should an emergency arise that requires immediate consent.

 

[justalayman]

You should also speak directly with school,administrators to determine what they may require to allow the foster parents to communicate with the school about issues concerning your child.

 

[cbg]

There's absolutely nothing wrong with what you propose.

Are you changing companies or just relocating within the same one? There's a reason I'm asking.

 

[HRZ]

My local high school has some published rules favorable to finishing a child's final semester without triggering a need to pay tuition... at least look locally , there may accommodation to finish with ones class.. watch the semester dates as appropriate . And I suggest looking before merely asking questions .

 

[quincy]

My local high school has some published rules favorable to finishing a child's final semester without triggering a need to pay tuition... at least look locally , there may accommodation to finish with ones class.. watch the semester dates as appropriate . And I suggest looking before merely asking questions .

There is nothing said to indicate that the host family is outside the school district.

 

[illini05]

There's absolutely nothing wrong with what you propose.

Are you changing companies or just relocating within the same one? There's a reason I'm asking.

I have a few offers on the table. Yes - I can stay within the same company but I also have two other different companies that have drafted up offers. Just need to make the decision.

 

[HRZ]

THats not the point....in general a student is only entitled to tuition free status where his parents are residents , absent being a true homeless student .

Taking in a friend's child is not always a sure fire way not to be stuck to pay tuition...perhaps a rarely enforced point...nonetheless think before one raises big red flags.

 

[cbg]

HRZ, the poster has already been advised to talk to the school district about their requirements. I think you may rest assured that the school district will tell them what their policy is with regards to tuition. I don't see anything in the original post that says that the primary issue is whether or not he will have to pay tuition. In fact, I don't see that it was even a matter of concern for the OP.

Now, if I may get back to what I was attempting to go into without being interrupted by irrelevancies, OP, I work in Employee Benefits and we occasionally have an employee looking to add a minor to their health insurance for just the reason you propose; the parents are having to re-locate to another state or country for work related reasons and are leaving one or more children with friends or relatives for school purposes. In order to do so, we need them to have a court order granting the foster family temporary guardianship. The guardianship can be for a school term, for a school year, for a calendar year or some other limited term, but it's necessary to make the addition.

Depending on whether you stay with the same company or move to a new one, your health insurance may or may not continue to cover your son in Iowa. If it does, fine. If it does not, you have several options. You can get COBRA for just your son. You can buy an individual policy. Or, you can look into the temporary guardianship of the friends or relatives he will be staying with. The advantage to the guardianship is that it also would likely take care of the agreement Quincy mentioned that allows them to act for you in an emergency, but it is not your only option.

Just something to consider as you move forward.

 

[LdiJ]

You should also speak directly with school,administrators to determine what they may require to allow the foster parents to communicate with the school about issues concerning your child.

I actually would not do that. I would not poke the sleeping bear. Schools are generally very good about students being able to finish out their senior year, but it may be one of those unspoken things that the school would prefer not to officially know about. If mom and dad are keeping their same cell phones/numbers then it will be easy for the school to contact mom and dad and then mom and dad can delegate as needed.

 

[HRZ]

Tuition is a matter of state law in Iowa and it makes sense to read the rules before stumbling into problems ...the local school corporation might well have a tuition waiver policy to complete ones senior year ..but is not required to do so and some of the language posted by OP trips right into a tuition problem ...as the child's presence would be for schooling and not for purposes of making a home there .

Generally speaking school corporation "policy " is what the board votes to adopt and is published as " policy ." Many around me have formal policies about permission to complete senior year tuition free...but I'm not in Iowa .

Agree, OP did not ask about tuition , but it's an issue to be careful not to trigger.

As as aside the OP didn't ask about health coverage either ...but I would think cbg has added valuable advice on issues to sort out as to insurance coverage for the young person .

 

[Zigner]

I actually would not do that. I would not poke the sleeping bear. Schools are generally very good about students being able to finish out their senior year, but it may be one of those unspoken things that the school would prefer not to officially know about. If mom and dad are keeping their same cell phones/numbers then it will be easy for the school to contact mom and dad and then mom and dad can delegate as needed.

Why would you give this advice? It is dangerous (financially) for the OP, and could even be a criminal act.

 

[justalayman]

THats not the point....in general a student is only entitled to tuition free status where his parents are residents , absent being a true homeless student .

Taking in a friend's child is not always a sure fire way not to be stuck to pay tuition...perhaps a rarely enforced point...nonetheless think before one raises big red flags.

In my area, it depends on the location of the residence of the child. As an example, if the child resides full time with grandma, regardless of whether there is legal statement the child is to live with grandma, the child is considered a resident of grandmas school district.

Of course that may affect the parents tax filing but that is a separate but associated matter

 

[justalayman]

I actually would not do that. I would not poke the sleeping bear. Schools are generally very good about students being able to finish out their senior year, but it may be one of those unspoken things that the school would prefer not to officially know about. If mom and dad are keeping their same cell phones/numbers then it will be easy for the school to contact mom and dad and then mom and dad can delegate as needed.

Oh, so apparently you’ve never seen a parent prosecuted for filing false info so their child could attend a school they didn’t live within their district. It can be treated criminally.

As to keeping the same number would allow them to be contacted.

I suspect the school would only accept:

I missed our face to face meeting because ...


Only so many times before they became suspicious and start trying to figure out what’s going on.

 

[HRZ]

This stuff gets awfully nitty gritty on a local basis , and sometimes like in PA the case law doesn't even follow the clear meaning of law as enacted and while living with a relative may pass some places, this is in Iowa , that is not the situation posted by OP ...and key logical starting point is the published policy of the local school corporation ....which might well permit tuition free completion of senior year.