Q: Can my parents still have control over me? I'm 28 and they don't let me do anything without one of them with me
I'm not allowed to take my dog on a walk by myself, take the trash, and go to the mailbox. When we go out they are always right next to me. My dad is always watching me 24/7, when we are walking instead of watching what is infront of him he is watching me, also in the car and anything that I do. When I do tell him to stop watching me and that I'm not going anywhere he throws a tantrum also he is 60. Both of my parents don't let me have any friends, or pretty much let me live my life. The last time I had friends I was in 8th grade. The make excuses pretty much telling me that I can't do what a typical 28 year old does. Once of my mom's excuse is "well you can't because you are my daughter and I don't care if you are 30, 40,60 you are not allowed to do anything without my permission". I just finally realized this year what kind of people they truly are, which they are both emotionally immature, and narcissist. They took my 20's away and I'm really mentally exhausted.
A:
Assuming you are mentally competent, parents can only have as much control over an adult child as the adult child allows. Legally--unless a parent has been appointed the legal guardian of a disabled adult child--the parent has very few legal rights with respect to an adult child and most of those concern situations like an accident in which the adult child is temporarily unable to make decisions for him- or herself.
A typical 28 year old would have his/her own job, own dwelling (whether rented or owned), own bank accounts, own motor vehicle, own insurance, own money, etc. A parent can effectively exercise some degree of control over a mentally competent adult if that adult becomes financially or emotionally dependent on their parent. That also sets the adult child up to be dominated by an adult romantic partner or spouse later in life. That is one of the greatest risks of a "failure to launch" scenario in which an adult child fails to "leave the nest" and move out upon reaching 18.
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