Full question:
I'm married and my wife has told my 15 year old son he can go to Key West and help a friend (he is not a captain) bring a boat up the Atlantic coast. Can I prevent him from doing this?
- Category: Minors
- Date:
- State: Virginia
Answer:
We cannot give legal advice. The following is not a substitute for the advice of a local attorney. But we hope the information will be useful.
This is an interesting question. You could "forbid" your son from leaving, and he might either leave anyway, or accept your decision and stay home. If you physically restrain him, you could be liable for using force to injure or imprison him. If he has his own means of getting where he's going, you can do little. For example if you forbid him from taking your car, and he did, you could report him to the police for theft, and they'd pull him over and bring him back. But if he uses his own resources for the trip, it's hard to see how you can stop him if he is willing to "run away" against your will. There is no law that we can locate that would allow you to lock him up, for example.
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.
