I have a 16-year-old stepson who has been in a group home and after he returned home, he was expelled from school for breaking and entering and also for vandalism.
What are the legal ramifications that we as parents will face if we throw him out of our house?
He causes constant turmoil and was initially removed from our home for peeking at my 12-year-old daughter while she was in the shower. Please help!
(Mrs K.L, 17 October 2008)
A.
The parents of a child have certain responsibilities to care for that him or her which are covered by the legal concept of parental responsibility. A person with Parental Responsibility for a child has the legal duty to protect, house and provide for them.
Not all parents have parental responsibility. The birth mother of a child will automatically have parental responsibility. An unmarried father of a child born prior to 1 December 2003 will not have parental responsibility for the child unless he enters into a parental responsibility agreement with the child’s mother or obtains a court order granting parental responsibility. Even parents without parental responsibility have a legal duty to provide for their children financially.
It is not clear from your question whether you have formally adopted your stepson and whether your partner is the boy’s mother or father. The degree of legal responsibility that you and your partner have for the boy may depend on the answers to the following questions:
Is your partner the boy’s mother? If so, she will almost certainly have parental responsibility for the child, as there are very limited circumstances in which a birth mother can lose parental responsibility.
Is your partner the boy’s father? If so, whether or not he has parental responsibility will depend on whether he was married to the boy’s mother or entered into a parental responsibility agreement with her or obtained a court order granting him parental responsibility. If the answer to any of these is yes, your partner will have parental responsibility.
Have you formally adopted the boy? If you have legally adopted him, you are likely to have parental responsibility for him. Since 2005, step parents have also been able to apply for parental responsibility orders.
In England, Wales and Northern Ireland the duties towards a child which come with parental responsibility continue until the child is 18. In the case of children between the age of 16 and 18, parental responsibility ends if the child marries.
In some circumstances where parental responsibility was conferred by a court order, it may end upon expiry of the order. Alternatively, a court order ending the parental responsibility may be obtained. The child’s birth mother can only lose her parental responsibility if the child is adopted.
I have referred to your stepson as a boy or child because, in legal terms, that is what he is until he turns 18. Technically, a person with parental responsibility for a child, who fails to look after that child, could be prosecuted for child neglect. Therefore, if either of you do have parental responsibility for this boy, it would be inadvisable to throw him out. Clearly the current situation is unsustainable and you all need help of some kind.
We as concerned and responsible parents desperately need help to avoid our daughter's actions getting out of control into serious harm and danger. From a well balanced, loveable and friendly 16yr girl who enjoyed a good relationship with her family and close friends has suddenly made bad attachments with new friends who have introduced her to a new world of deceit, sex, drink and drugs she also met a man 9 years older and has moved in with him who we think has bad history and his dysfunctional family who except this way of life. We have tried our hardest to get her back, unfortunately these stupid friends who are playing Russian roulette with her life are encouraging her to lead this life and on top of this uselesslawless country are allowing her boyfriend to put a Child Support Maintenance claim against our wages of 15% each. We are on our knees and now are being legally robbed by scum who choses not to work, I wonder why. Please someone help!
Hopeful - 22 December 2011 @ 10:52 PM
Can someone explain parental responsibilty for 16-18 yr olds who have left home.What am I, as a mother legally responsible of??If my son was to do anything illegally, should I be notified? no one can explain what parental responsibilty is...help!
clare - 23 November 2011 @ 1:05 PM
My son is 17 in dec im at my wits end with him i live in glasgow and for 2 years now have had nothing but bother,first it was drink and hes an angry boy anyways but this made him flip out kick things break things in the home fight with his twin brother, i did everything i could for him going out at all times of night looking for him finding him drunk also police have picked him up plenty of times for all different kinds of things hes now smoking weed i have thrown him out but he comes back everynight wanting in hes made me a very hard person something i never was but my feeling for him are going fast,horrible thing to say im not sure why but they have,i let him back in last night for a night and all i got was him kickin things name calling towards myself i was disgusted told him hes never to come back again i cant take much more and his brother wants to leave home because of him....is it wrong to throw him out as i have tried everything for him .
tina - 25 October 2011 @ 8:46 PM
It is not the opinion of the organisation that is relevant but that of the child. Whilst they may leave home at 16 if they wish, the parent(s) will still have parental responsibility for them until they reach the age of 18. This means that they are legally responsible for providing for their welfare and protection until then.
So the child cannot be forced to leave home under the age of 18 without committing a criminal offence of child neglect.
AJW - 5 June 2011 @ 9:26 PM
Is it correct, then, that whilst a child has the right to leave home when they are 16, the parent does not have the right to ask them to leave (even if they intend to provide alternative accommodation, pay for it and financially maintain that child until they are 18)?
Catherine - 27 May 2011 @ 1:34 PM
It is true that once a child reaches the age of 16+ that he or she can make decisions for themselves. However, I still believe that it is the police's duty to attempt find a child if a child has in fact run away.
bizzy - 14 May 2011 @ 9:36 PM
I am unsure as to how this works, I was aware that once a child was 16 and has left school, you are no longer responsible, recently my neice ran away @ 16 the police informed my aunt there was nothing they could do as once she was 16 she could legally leave home.I think the conflict here is how the view of the16 yr old differs in different organisations, for example in the eyes of the police and in the eyes of social services.
