Emancipation of Minors
The emancipation of minors is the process of the giving up or relinquishment of control and authority over a minor child by a parent. An emancipated minor has the right to keep his or her earnings, and the process of emancipation terminates the parents’ legal duty to support the child. An express emancipation is made affirmatively and can take the form of an agreement between the parents and child. An implied emancipation is one that is implied from acts or conduct of the parties that demonstrate consent. The emancipation of a minor need not be total, and it may be conditional rather than absolute.
Emancipation under Mississippi law was defined in the case Caldwell v. Caldwell as the freeing of a child for all the period of his or her minority from the care, custody, control, and service of the child’s parents. Emancipation is the relinquishment or giving up of parental control over the child, and conferring on the child the right to his or her own earnings and terminating the parent’s legal obligation to support the child. The Mississippi statute governing the status of emancipated minors states that the parent’s duty to support the child terminates upon the emancipation of the child. The court may determine that emancipation has occurred and that therefore no other support obligation exists when the child: 1) turns 21, 2) gets married, 3) stops attending school full-time and obtains full-time employment before turning 21, or 4) voluntarily moves out of the custodial parent or guardian’s home and establishes independent living arrangements and obtains full-time employment before turning 21. The legal requirements for emancipation are permissive and not mandatory and the court may find that a child has been emancipated if it finds that any of the four factors have been satisfied.
Ordinarily under the law of the United States, a person is a minor and therefore under the control of his or her parents until attaining the age of majority. The age of majority is established by state law and it varies between states. In most states a person ceases to be a minor when the person turns 19 years old, or is both 18 years old and out of high school.