17 and i want to move out with my 22 year old boyfriend

[Unregistered]

Im a 17 year old female, i live in Texas, ill be 18 in 3 months and I have a boyfriend whos is 22 who ive been dating for over a year and have known for 4 years. i live at home with my mother and my stepdad. i want to know if i can move into a apartment with my boyfriend without my moms permission and without getting my boyfriend in trouble. ive been having issues with my mother , she gives me no privacy, verbally abuses me, she doesnt appreciate any house work i do around the house. she harasses my boyfriend and will not let me see him. i dont know what to do anymore i feel helpless, and i feel like my social life, freedom and privacy has been taken from me. i feel miserable at home and i wish i didnt have to go home sometimes because i dont want to deal with my mother.

[ccsmod8]

RE: 17 and i want to move out with my 22 year old boyfriend.

Hello there –

Thanks for writing to us here at the National Runaway Safeline with your concerns. From your post to our public forum, we can see that you have very similar questions to a lot of our callers and you’re looking for some answers. We are always here to listen and here to help in any way that we can. It can be very frustrating not knowing what to do or what your next step might be from this point on and thinking about what would happen if you did leave your house.

Like we tell a lot of our callers and/or people that email us, the laws on that specific subject of running away vary from state to state. Generally what typically happens in each state is if you are below the legal age of majority (18 in most states except Alabama and Nebraska [19 or upon marriage], and Mississippi [21]), your parents would be able to make a runaway report in the event that you do run away. Since it’s only considered a statues offense and not a crime to run away, the only thing that would happen is that the police will pick you up and bring you back home. This is of course if you had any interaction with the police directly or if they stopped you to ask you a few questions.

It’s great that you’re looking ahead and trying to figure out what is going to be best for you. It can be a little tricky at the age of 17, but there are some cases in which a police officer won't take a runaway report for someone that is 17. Especially if there are a little closer to turning 18 years old, along with having already graduated high school. This is not the case all the time of course, but it is something that we have heard of happening before. The only way to know for sure of that would be to reach out to your local non-emergency police and asking them hypothetical questions about running away. Knowing some facts about the subject can help you formulate a plan of action and you can see for yourself what would be possible and what isn't possible for you to do.

[Guest]

i’m a 17 year old female that lives with my mom. i have a friend that is a guy that is 22 and me and him are planning on moving in together. i’ll be 18 in a few months, and the reason i’m moving is because there is so much fighting at my moms place like that family verbally abuses me. i’ve been kicked out of my house so many times, and told to go live somewhere else and i’ve been dealing with this for years now. i’m not aloud to hangout with my friends after school. like i’m just done and now their threatening me since i’m leaving like i have every right to move out at any age. i have money and i’ll be fine. i don’t want anything to do with my family and i want them to stay outta my life i’m ready to be on my own now.

[ccsmod15]

Hi there,
Thank you for writing to us here at National Runaway Safeline (NRS). We understand it takes great courage to reach out, and we appreciate you sharing a little bit about what’s going on. 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 contact our 24/7 crisis support line either by phone or chat.
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 911 or seek emergency assistance immediately.
We hope to hear from you soon.
Be safe,
NRS