Legal Question in Family Law in New Mexico
If my child leaves the house at 18, while in and before graduating high school, am I legally responsible for her in anyway? Would she have to emancipate herself?
1 Answer from Attorneys
The child must emancipate herself to be free of your control.
In fact, as you probably know well, at this age they're impossible to control if they don't want to be.
Under 32A-2-27 of the statutes, a "parent having custody and control" has a civil liability up to $4,000 for injury or damage caused by a child (means a person under 18). Courts differ on whether you can plead that the child was not controllable to avoid the liability, so to be safe you probably should assume you'll be liable. But the emancipation statute 32A-21 ends all vicarious liability except that imposed by the motor vehicle code, so if you can get her to apply for emancipation ad its granted you'll be off the hook. Just don't let her use the car.
If you send me an e-mail I can send you some New Mexico court cases you can review to learn more about this. [email protected]
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