Will the law keep me from separating myself from my parents?

[Guest]

I am 19 years old in my second year of college and I’ve had enough of my abusive parents. If I decide to leave my house, are they legally entitled to things they’ve gifted me like my laptop and clothes? And also my car is in their name but it’s all paid off and technically it’s mine so could I legally claim it since I need it to get to my job and my classes? Also how does car insurance work if they are paying for it right now?

[ccsmod4]

Reply: Will the law keep me from separating myself from my parents?

Hello,
Thank you for writing to us here at the National Runaway Safeline.

We understand it takes great courage to reach out, and we appreciate you sharing a little bit about what’s going on.
It sounds like you been dealing with some type of abuse from your parents. No one should be abused and at 19 you are well within your rights to be on your own.
We are not legal experts but in general if your parent’s can show proof of purchase or ownership of any of the items you mentioned they could possibly lay claim on them.
You might consider trying to work out some kind of arrangement with them to keep or use the things in question.
To get information about purchasing car insurance you might contact an insurance agency (maybe the one insuring the car) about becoming insured.

We want you to know that we are here as support to help you through this challenging time. We can best help by phone or chat as NRS is unable to respond more than twice by email or bulletin for assistance. If you would like to talk more in detail and share more about how we can help specifically, please call or chat soon.

Our contact information is 1-800-RUNAWAY (786-2929); www.1800runaway.org (click on the chat button).

If you are at risk of any danger or feeling unsafe, we encourage you to reach out to or seek emergency assistance immediately.
We hope to hear from you soon.

Take care,
NRS