QUESTION
What are my rights to the money I earn, belongings, and living with my parents at age 16?
Asked on Feb 24th, 2014 on Family Law - New York
More details to this question:
I have a significant amount of money saved up from working, both on and off the books, as well as a car I bought from my parents that is not in my name. I have been paying my own bills for a few years, and after telling my parents I will not attend college directly after high school (I'm graduating a year early), they revoked my access to my bank accounts, and took my car. They have also threatened to interfere with my work and are behaving in a way that makes living at home extraordinarily stressful. They have a history of emotional and physical abuse, the physical side of which has not been reported to authorities. I have a job ready for after graduation that pays around $50,000, and it would be detrimental for them to interfere with that. I am not looking to run away from home, but to protect my earnings, and see if there is a way to put a car in my name. If they become abusive and I leave home, what can they do? Can they use my money to pay for college to try to make me go?
1 ANSWER
Divorce Attorney serving Astoria, NY
at
Richardson Legal PLLC
Update Your Profile
It is great that you feel you have employment opportunities. Perhaps you and your parents can compromise: what if you attend school part-time or community college at night? That way you can take the job but get all the job security and ability to advance through the work-force that comes from a college degree.
At the end of the day, your parents can't force you to go to college. But, even with a job, your resources are limited. $50k in New York is not much and you don't say what sort of work you are doing - if that work requires physical labor, you might find that you end up hurt and without an education it limits you. More and more the trend is to need more than college, but also graduate school, to make it. Of course that isn't for everyone.
If you can talk to your parents and outline a plan for your life, maybe you can convince them to work out a deal with you to either go part-time or delay a few years. Going to school while you are young is much easier than trying to go back later.
If you can't talk to your parents, maybe ask a family friend (an adult) to help you get organized and approach your parents. If they see you are handling this in an adult way and you can present your reasoning in a clear manner, that might help them realize you are close to becoming an adult.
Remember that some of the only unconditional love in the world comes from parents. Think carefully about how to find compromises and preserve what you can with your parents. One day you might both understand eachother better. Good luck.
Answered on Feb 27th, 2014 at 4:13 PM