NCJ Number
94581
Journal
University of California Davis Law Review Volume: 12 Issue: 2 Dated: (Summer 1979) Pages: 283-331
Date Published
1979
Length
18 pages
Annotation
California's 1979 Emancipation of Minors Act is a valuable tool to help minors assume adult rights and responsibilities if they are capable of handling them, but fails to set sufficient guidelines for the subjective evidence required.
Abstract
The Act provides that minors who meet certain requirements may petition the superior court for an emancipation decree. Minors emancipated under the Act may sue and be sued, contract, consent to various types of health care, and establish a residence. The Act requires that minors show they are managing their own financial affairs, regardless of income source, that they live 'separate and apart' from their parents, and that parents consent or acquiesce to the minor's living separate and apart. Even if minors meet all these requirements, the Act still requires that the courts deny the petition for the decree if granting it would not be in the minor's best interests. These requirements raise problems of definition and interpretation since they are subjective, and the Act does not provide adequate evidentiary guidelines for the courts. Managing one's own financial affairs should mean that a minor is able to obtain basic necessities and make his or her own decisions about how to spend money. The courts should interpret 'living separate and apart' broadly to include either physical separation or autonomy in decisionmaking if minors are living with their parents. Parental acquiescence or consent should rest on a finding that parents have allowed their children to make these decisions regarding their incomes and lives. The use of the best interests test is an unnecessary and highly subjective infringement of the minor's autonomy. The paper includes 100 footnotes.