Q: I am 15 and my step-dad is emotionally abusive towards me he wont buy me my needs, Can I go live with a friend?
I live in too small of a house with way to many people, Its a 4 bedroom house with 10 people. My friends family are willing to take me in, my biological dad is going to jail and there is no one I can go to he has denied me from seeing a therapist or anything like that. Can my friends family get guardianship of me? I am from Utah and I feel trapped and unsafe in the house? Is there anyway to leave home to go stay there or is there anything I can do?
A: Contact UtahLegalServices.org and see if they can refer you to a pro bono (no fee) attorney in or near Tooele. Alternatively, could you convince your mom (unless step dad has adopted you, he really doesn't LEGALLY get a say in the matter) to sign over temporary guardianship? If you cannot get pro bono help, you could potentially appeal to DCFS, but that is usually a mess. One final, difficult option, would be to get a job and the agreement of your friend's family to provide really low-cost housing then apply for emancipation through the courts. You must wait until your 16th birthday, but that would allow you time to develop the evidence to present to the Court that you are capable of managing your own finances (establishing a checking account, showing you have been paying one or more bills of your own, no overdraft fees, etc.). The forms you need may be found at https://www.utcourts.gov/resources/forms/emancipation/.
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