Legal Question in Family Law in California
Emancipation
I'll be 17 next week, & I've already graduated high school & I'm registered for college, I have a job & I've moved out of my parents house (with their permission of course) & I'm taking care of myself. I have the option to either get married now (I'm already engaged but he�s letting me choose whether I want to get married now or wait until I�m 18 or 19) or get an emancipation. I really want to get married, but I don't know which would be better for my financial status and his also. I don�t know how it would affect our taxes, and he's not a California resident, so I don't know how getting married would affect my residency when it comes to financial aid for college, and also if I would qualify for more or less aid either way, because I can't afford it on my own. Can someone give me more information on which would be better for me?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Emancipation
Dear Inquirer:
Nothing herein shall create an attorney-client relationship, unless a written retainer agreement is executed by the attorney and client. This communication contains general information only. Nothing herein shall constitute an attorney-client communication nor legal advice. There likely are deadlines and time-limits associated with your case; you should contact an attorney of your choice for legal advice specific to your personal situation, at once.
If you haven't already done so, please visit my
web site at --
http://home.pacbell.net/edbjr/ OR
http://www.CaliforniaDivorceAttorney.com
The site contains quite a bit of general information about California Family Law, Tenants' Rights, and Juvenile Dependencies, as well as information about me (education, experience, et cetera) and my office (location, hours, fees, policies).
NOW, IN RESPONSE TO YOUR INQUIRY --
THis is not legal advice but rather advice from someone who has been married 30+ years and successfully raised two kids. I deal with other people's divorces day in and day out, and I will tell you that the decision to marry or not should NOT be based upon financial considerations. If that's your main concern, as implied by your inquiry, then you probably are not ready to get married. Also, generally, I would guess you would be better off regarding student aid, residency, et cetera as a single person. If you get along fine with your parents, I don't see any real advantage to emancipation either. Your parents income and assets will be factored into most student aid calculations until you are twenty five.
Thanks for sharing your interesting inquiry with us on LawGuru, and good luck with your case.
Re: Emancipation
Since there is so little that you know about the situation that you are getting into, I would suggest that you are not ready to get married, so the suggestion is that you eliminate that possibility. You should then go to your local library and study the questions that you are asking, about emancipation, supporting yourself, financial responsibility and budgeting, etc and prepare yourself for a future that is planned. Good Luck, Pat McCrary
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