18-Year Old Florida Laws

[Unregistered]

Hello, I'm asking this on behalf of one of my friends who lives in an extremely mentally abusive household. We both live in Florida and while he lives 4 hours away, we have made plans to start meeting up once he graduates high school in 2-3 years and then have him move in with me once he graduates college in an additional 4 years. While I myself do not have my own place to live or a job, I am an 18-year old high school graduate and will likely have both of these things when he graduates high school.

The thing is that his mental health is far from good and I have had to talk him out of suicide several times because of his situation. I know that getting him out of there would help him immensely but he says that his parents won't let him leave until he graduates college. Us meeting up would even have to be in secret as his parents don't want him to be anywhere but college without them. I have done some research on the automatic emancipation laws in Florida and it says that he can leave without his parents keeping him there or filing a runaway report once he turns 18.

I simply would like some verification on if this is true or not because I would like nothing more than to get him out of there asap and away from his parents if he's on board with this idea.

[ccsmod14]

Re: 18-Year Old Florida Laws

Hi there,

Thank you so much for reaching out to us here at the National Runaway Safeline. It sounds like things have been really hard for your friend but it’s awesome that you are trying to reach out and get some information for him to help develop a plan. We’re here to help you out as much as we can.

You shared that you have had to talk your friend out of suicide several times. This must be extremely difficult for you both. We want you to know we take suicide very seriously here at NRS. One resource we’d like to pass along to you is the National Suicide Hotline at (800) 273 TALK (8255). Your friend can call this number any time, it’s available 24/7 just like us, to talk to a trained counselor that may be able to support him more through thoughts of suicide.

It sounds like you have been doing a lot of research which is great to hear. Your friend certainly does not deserve to be abused in any way at home or by anybody. While we are not legal experts, we can speak in general terms. Generally speaking, in most states the legal age of an adult is 18. This means that once someone turns 18, they have the right to decide where they live and what they do. It is not always that easy, though, if you are not financially independent and your former legal guardians do not agree with you leaving. If an 18 year old is still dependent on them in any way, it can become more difficult. If you or your friend would like to talk further about his situation, you can call us any time at (800) RUNAWAY (786 2929) or chat with us!

Best of luck,
NRS