Full question:
We know a 17 year old boy who has been locked out of his home by his mother. We have known this boy for about two years. He is a pleasant, polite person. His mother and father are separated. The mother has serious emotional issues and the father has serious anger issues. He has hit his son on several occasions. The mother does not want her son to live with her and the son does not want to live with his father for obvious reasons. The boy is living with another family right now. It's been about six weeks. He did call his mother recently to apologize and ask if he could return home and she refused. Is this illegal? What are the rights of the child and of the family with whom he is living?
- Category: Minors
- Subcategory: Emancipation of Minor
- Date:
- State: Ohio
Answer:
The state of Ohio does not have an emancipation law. A minor or parent is unable to file a legal action to have a minor emancipated or legally on their own and under the age of 18. There are two temporary ways in which a minor can be out of the custody of their parent. Either by joining any branch of the armed forces or marriage. However, if the marriage is dissolved or minor is discharged from the service and still under the age of 18, the custody automatically reverts back to the parent who originally had custody.
Generally, a parent has custody and care responsibilities for a child until a court orders otherwise. It is possible for a parent to grant a power of attorney or temporary guardianship to another adult. Ohio has statutes allowing a grandparent to act as the child's caretaker.
The following is an Ohio statute:
3109.52 Power of attorney for residential grandparent.
The parent, guardian, or custodian of a child may create a power of attorney that grants to a grandparent of the child with whom the child is residing any of the parent’s, guardian’s, or custodian’s rights and responsibilities regarding the care, physical custody, and control of the child, including the ability to enroll the child in school, to obtain from the school district educational and behavioral information about the child, to consent to all school-related matters regarding the child, and to consent to medical, psychological, or dental treatment for the child. The power of attorney may not grant authority to consent to the marriage or adoption of the child. The power of attorney does not affect the rights of the parent, guardian, or custodian of the child in any future proceeding concerning custody of the child or the allocation of parental rights and responsibilities for the care of the child and does not grant legal custody to the attorney in fact.
This content is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice. Legal statutes mentioned reflect the law at the time the content was written and may no longer be current. Always verify the latest version of the law before relying on it.
