Legal Question in Family Law in Texas

You can read the Texas Family Code on-line. It's called "removal of disabilities".

Most judges do not like emancipating kids.

In order to be emancipated the child must fulfill certain requirements that are spelled out in the Texas Family Code which you can easily read on-line. If your friend does not fulfill all the requirements it not worth the time and money to even try to do it.

It appears that your friend lives in Houston Texas.

I recommend that you call Patricia Bushman JD at 713-807-9405. Talk to Jessica in her office for an appointment. Please do not call me since I'm no longer litigating. I only mediate these days. Please tell Jessica that FRAN sent you.

If your friend is only a few months away from turning 18, then it's probably not worth the time and money to apply to be emancipated, since it usually takes awhile to accomplish this lawsuit and the Harris County judges don't like doing them. They are not popular lawsuits and the filing fee alone is approximately $300. Most kids can't afford them because of the costs and the time involved.

Under Texas law, at 17 she is an adult for criminal purposes. She is only a juvenile for civil purposes. Also, the cops normally won't get involved since she's graduated from high school and is almost an adult for all purposes. You can certainly call your local sheriff, police, and/or constable offices and get their local opinions regarding 17 yr. olds -- each local office might have their own policies -- also they are all under-staffed these days so chasing 17 yr. olds are not a top priority in their list of things to do.

Good luck!