Can We Legally Throw Out Our 16-Year-Old Son?

Originally written by Charlotte Walker-Olivier, updated by the editorial team on 18th May 2026

Mrs K.L asks

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!

What is parental responsibility?

Parental responsibility is the legal term for the duties and rights a person has towards a child. If you hold parental responsibility for your son, you have a legal obligation to protect him, provide a home for him, and meet his basic needs.

Not everyone who is a parent automatically has parental responsibility. A birth mother will have it from the moment her child is born in almost all cases. Fathers who are married to the mother at the time of birth, or who marry her afterwards, will also acquire parental responsibility. Fathers named on the birth certificate gain it automatically for children born after 1 December 2003 in England and Wales, or after 4 May 2006 in Scotland.

Unmarried fathers of children born before those dates may not have parental responsibility unless they later obtained it through a formal agreement with the mother or a court order. Step-parents do not have parental responsibility unless they have legally adopted the child, acquired it through the courts, or entered into a parental responsibility agreement with consent from everyone who already holds parental responsibility.

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Can you ask a 16 year old to leave?

Whether you can ask a 16 year old to leave home depends on several factors, but in most cases you cannot simply evict a child from your home without consequence.

Anyone with parental responsibility for a child has a duty to provide for them until they reach 18. Asking a 16 year old to leave and refusing to support them could be considered a failure to meet that duty. In some situations, it may even amount to neglect or abandonment, which can have legal consequences.

Parents who do not hold parental responsibility still have a financial obligation to support their children. This obligation is typically fulfilled through child support payments, calculated through the Child Maintenance Service, and applies regardless of whether you live with the child.

A 16 year old can choose to leave home and has certain rights to live independently at that age. However, that is different from a parent forcing them out. If your son has nowhere safe to go, local authority children's services must become involved and will take action to ensure his welfare.

Your situation may be slightly different. ask a question below ↓ and our editorial team will reply with our advice.

What about step-parents?

If you are a step-parent and have not formally adopted your stepson, you are unlikely to have parental responsibility for him. Your legal obligations will depend on whether you have taken steps to acquire parental responsibility through a court order, adoption, or a parental responsibility agreement.

Your partner's own status matters here too. If your partner is the birth mother, she is likely to have parental responsibility. If your partner is the birth father, his status will depend on the factors outlined above.

The household situation can affect what options are available and what the consequences might be for each of you.

Where to get help

Family breakdown involving a teenager is difficult for everyone. Before taking any steps, it may help to speak with a family solicitor who can advise on your specific circumstances. Many solicitors offer an initial consultation at a fixed fee or sometimes free of charge.

You can also contact your local council's children's services department for guidance. They may be able to offer support to keep the family together or help find appropriate solutions if living together is no longer possible. Organisations such as Family Lives provide free support and advice to families in distress.

For general information about parental responsibility, the GOV.UK website has guidance that explains the rules in more detail.

The Next Step

Now that you have read through the advice above, you might want to put it into practice. Our Parental Rights Checker lets you check your legal rights as a parent on education, health and welfare decisions. Try it now →

Showing 20 of 131 questions

Ask Law and Parents a Question

LawAndParents Editor 17/05/2026 at 1:31 pm

@Ollytony Legally, as they're both over 18 you and their mum can absolutely ask them to leave, though you'd need to give reasonable notice (usually 28 days) since they're classed as excluded occupiers. The tricky bit is that you need their mum on side, otherwise you'll just cause a massive row and get nowhere. Have you tried setting a flat rate of board money first? Most working adult kids living at home pay something towards bills, and that conversation often sorts the attitude out too.

Ollytony 22/06/2023 at 9:23 pm

I will like to seek for your advice regarding my stepson whom I contribute larger percentage of my finance to their monthly upkeep allowance since I started living with their biological mother.

They don’t want to do any housework but to eat, have fun. Myself and their mum works a lot and the eldest daughter who’s 25 years and eldest son who is 21 years are so disrespectful and both are working and never put little from their wages down to support us in the house but they prefer to spend their wages on going on holiday but I don’t think their mum is helping them by not making them realise that they are an adult and they are supposed to be living on their own.

As a stepfather do I have legal rights to let them know that if they continue with their unacceptable behaviour they will have to leave the house.

Vi 15/06/2023 at 1:18 pm

My daughter is 15. 16 in three weeks she is vile t agressive she has been kicked out of school as no intentions of going to collage or getting a job I have 4 younger children at home who are all terrified or her we are walking on egg shells not boing what is next with her she is on a waiting list to see pedestrians I rang social services and every other service I can think of there a waste of space I’m really considering kicking her out when she is 16 but read I have parental responsibility until 18 what other help can I get who do I ring ?????

K 26/04/2023 at 8:37 am

My sister an her husband has thrown their 17 year old adopted son out of the house an he is now in my home. I no longer speak with my sister to talk about him being thrown out, should I call the social services for him or what can I do as I can't really keep him at my home

FedUp 09/10/2022 at 12:23 pm

My 16 year old has been physically violent towards me with knives and punching, verbally abusive too and its been going on for years, school kicked her out, she refuses college or to get a job because she knows nobody will do anything. She laughs at me and tells me theres nothing i can do and she’s right because I've called police, social, everyone and nothing happens. If it was the other way round id be in prison but because its the child to the parent it’s dismissed. I want her out my house my mental health is destroyed I can’t cope anymore and no-one will help

R. Kap 05/04/2021 at 2:26 pm

This is the perspective of a child of a b*st*rd
Hi, I am the child of the person who wanted to kick me out. It is an extremely pathetic reason, for it was when I was ten years old. My sister was staying the night while visiting, and me and my father had to go to the veterinarian for my pet rabbit. I didn’t get ready in time, and instead of saying “It’s okay, be ready on time next time.” My father started an argument with me. And saying “I’m going to kick you out of the house!” I angrily agreed and ran into my sister on the way out. She had told me off, because of the argument which was started by my father. Which was very common, as I was mistreated as a child. People usually stood up for my adult sister when I was a kid. And she was going to go to University.
So, kicking YOUR child out is ILLEGAL. It is considered child abandonment. NEVER KICK YOUR CHILD OUT.

KSPU 19/03/2021 at 5:48 am

I have a 21yr old step son, who has only lived with is for the past 1 year, at his mothers request. He has attacked me few times and disrespects me at every turn, but most unbelievable is that he completely disrespect his own mother any possible ways. I have tried everything to resolve this from sit down talks, but nothing worked. He says we are nothing to him. Few years ago he was in trouble with law enforcement for stealing. I had to pick him up from the cops and yet he gets in my face when we get home screaming, spitting and calling me obscene names. He damage my property, also few years ago the same happen in our previous house (widows was smashed, doors damage). What rights do I have as a step parent? Can I kick him out since legally its MY house? I put lock into our bedroom door, because of the fear of what he may do. I work nights, so I'm very stressed because I don't know what he may do. Help.

Liza 15/03/2021 at 12:01 am

My 16 year old son often argues with his girlfriend on the phone-it’s always late at night and he gets angry and aggressive-trashes his room and scares his younger sibling.
What can we do to break this cycle of behaviour-I have a duty to protect both.

El 22/09/2020 at 12:08 pm

Can I get some advice about evicting my 24 year old daughter from my home.

Jackz 14/06/2020 at 4:05 pm

My partner daughter came to live with him 2years ago she is 15 going to be 16 in 3weeks. She has coursed nothink but problems thiefs been arrested mouthing off does what she wants doesn't roll in till early in mornings and some off the lies she has told are sickening I mean really sickening. She talks to random men and woman that are married. My partner and I carnt cope anymore she says she wants the help but she has been offered it so many times and refuse. My partner wants to know if he can kick her out at 16 take her to social and say he doesn't want her living with him no more she has brought his depression back on...

Debman 18/05/2020 at 11:21 am

We want to evict out 17 year old adopted daughter. She is violent and extremely abusive. Has been thrown out if school and college for abusive and violent behaviour. We have tried years of therapy and support, but nothing works as she just doesn't care. She found her birth family on the internet, and went to stay with them for 6 weeks, but each of the three siblings she stayed with subsequently threw her out because of her behaviour. Now she is back with a vengeance and our life is a misery. She has been arrested previously for assaulting my wife, and has hit her on several occasions. Our younger daughter is fearfull of her, and her natural sister, also adopted, wants nothing to do with her. She turns 18 in Feb. We cannot live another 9 months in this state of anxiety. She can charm anyone, but is an habitual liar and thief. How do we get her out of the house?

Shiv 10/05/2020 at 2:53 pm

My 17 yr old 18 in October has become very abusive and when ranting does not make any sense at all if I try to talk to her she does not engage, I have put up with her behaviour and just walk away as I really cant go into battle with her let alone choose when to. The last argument was that I would not let her boyfriend come and stay in this Covid lockdown her pregnant sister is staying and looking to be housed by the council as she is homeless. So as you see its not practical, I have reached the end of the line and would like her to live somewhere else when she is 18

shiv

Angie 04/05/2020 at 4:14 am

Hi I have a 15 year old daughter who turns 16 soon ,and she's living with her dad, so when she turns 16 in August would she come back to live with me or is my ex allowed keep her at his house or is she legally allowed to make her own choice at 16 where she lives,because at moment she doesn't want anything to do with me because my ex has told her a lot of bad lies about me, so she has been getting brainwashed and she believes everything bad about me

MiNi 22/04/2020 at 11:24 pm

My bf is 19 and is autistic his mom is taking his pip(400 pounds) and also demanding he pay her rent every month a 100 pounds and if he doesnt do something right he gets thretened to be thrown out. Is she even allowed to do that

Kimi 11/04/2020 at 2:37 am

I completely understand ’parental responsibility’ but we have a 16 year old and 2 younger children (8&4). The 16 yo is violent, causes criminal damage, steals anything in sight from us and threatens violence towards us all. We are living in fear from our own child!! We report everything we can to the police, yet we have no choice but to allow him back into our home due to ‘parental responsibility’ !!!! How is this acceptable??

I hate the UK system and law. Children are allowed to behave however they want and know they won’t be punished. In the space of 8 days, he’s stolen a car (& caught in it) , assaulted his Dad and put our windows through (all on cctv), stolen my engagement and wedding rings, threatened to assault his 8 yo brother and threatened to burn our house down. How much more should parents and families have to take!!???

PJL 10/04/2020 at 2:24 pm

My nephew is 17 and has been thrown out by his parents, they say he is badly behaved. They adopted him and his sister when he was 9 months old but they have never been happy with him and none of the children know they are adopted or have siblings elsewhere.
I love them and just consider them as our flesh and blood, always have always will.
No parents are perfect, the same as no child is perfect. I know he has played up at times but when he never gets praise, gets locked in a stone shed and doesn't get cooked meals except Pot noodles, I can understand some or most of his behaviour.
Am I ok to take in my nephew legally?
He is at college but doesn't enjoy it and wants to try to get an apprenticeship, am I legally allowed to support him?
Do you know if I have any rights please?

Fatty 26/02/2020 at 1:20 pm

Has a parent any legal parental rights if a 17 year old has left home.Or will they be held responsible if that child gets into trouble or puts themselves in an unsafe situation.

Maka andile 29/01/2020 at 5:54 am

Hi I am living with my boyfriend he has 2 children de other 1 is 17 years old dis year his father is paying maintenance de other one is 15 years old her mother applied for maintenance after they broke up with her baby daddy den she went back to de court claiming dat de money is not enough okay de problem is dis lady is a drunkard she chased her daughter last year de child is no longer here with her so de problem is dis lady is receiving dis money every month and get drunk with it while de child is not her even de grant money so can de father of de chlid go 2 court so day they can fix dis or what m confused

Maka andile 29/01/2020 at 5:50 am

Milly 09/01/2020 at 2:42 pm

My partners ex wife has thrown out his 2 daughters 15 and 12 now there staying at there older sisters flat share that’s just 18 my partner doesn’t know what to do about the situation I’m absolutely fuming it’s been over a month and still nothing has changed

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