Moving out

[Unregistered]

if im seventeen, living in michigan and my girlfriend lives in New York... can i move out legally without parental consent and move to New York

[ccsmod12]

RE: Moving out

Hi-

Thank you for contacting the National Runaway Safeline. It sounds like you have put some thought into seriously moving to New York to be closer to your girlfriend. It must not be easy being long distance from someone that you care about, and it makes a lot of sense that you would want to move to be close to her.

We are not legal experts, but if you are under the age of 18 you must have your parent or legal guardians consent to move and live anywhere other than with them. If you decide to leave without the consent of your parent or legal guardian, they have the right to do whatever they can to get you back home. They could file a runaway report and report you missing. If the police find out where you are they can come pick you up and take you back home. You would not get into any legal trouble, but you would be brought back home. If you runaway and live with anyone over the age of 18, your parents could also press charges against that person for harboring a runaway, and they could get into legal trouble. We just want to make sure that you have all information needed to make the best decision possible.

If you still decide to run away, we want to make sure you do so as safely as possible. This could involve planning where you will go, how you will get there and how you will survive once you arrive. It is also best to keep a cell phone with you at all times if possible, so that you can make a phone call if you needed any help. A back up plan is also great to have in case your original plan does not work out.

We would love if you gave us a call so that we can provide you with support and help you come up with a plan on how to deal with your current situation. We are a 24/7 confidential hotline, so we will be able to talk to you at any time that you are available. Over the phone we can get more information from you that can help us better assist you in any way we can. If you are uncomfortable with talking on the phone you can also reach us through our online chat services. Our online chat is available all week long from 4:30 pm to 11:30 pm central time.

We wish you the best of luck and hope to hear from you soon