Legal Question in Family Law in California

Financial repsonsibility of parent

I'm not licensed in your state and am uncertain of the law on this issue in your state, but in most states the answer is yes... but if she's 15, do you really think you'll get anything other than a legal bill for your effort?

Minor Child who is Mother to Be

I can't tell you about NM, but the law there may be similar to NC. In NC, either you (the adult sister) would need to file an action for custody of the minor mother-to-be. If you didn't have the money to do that, in NC you could ask the Dept. of Social Services to take (legal)custody of her. They would also take legal custody of the baby when it is born. They most likely would the two children (mother and baby) to continue living with you, if that is a suitable place. NC would feel that they have jurisdiction of all of this because the young mother would be physically located in this state. DSS in NC would most likely go after the parents in the other state (through the Interstate Compact, I believe it's called) for child support for the young mother. Without having researched the law in NC, I don't believe that DSS would go after the parents for medical costs; DSS would probably pay those. You will probably want to check with your equivalent to NC's Dept. of Social Services about all of this.