NYS Law. If you kick a 19 year old junkie out on the street, do you have to pay

  • Thread starter Thread starter tenkstone
  • Start date Start date
T

tenkstone

Guest
for his living expenses? Apparently, there's a consensus that if you remove a minor (under the age of 21) from your home that you will be taxed 17% of your income to support him. Is this true? If it is true, what steps can be taken to remove him from your household without having to pay for what will just be continued drug use. Child in question has been hospitalized numerous times for overdoses and suicide attempts. Police have apprehended him with banned substances several times but elect to discard them rather than collect as evidence. Child has also attacked several members of the household. However, Police will not take him into custody citing that if they do so, they have to charge the other party of the fight. This doesn't sound right, anyone have any insight on a bad situation growing worse?
 
I don't believe it. Please provide a link to the applicable law or a NY statute number.
 
I don't believe it either. Is this your child? In other states where I am more familiar, parents have a legal obligation to care for a child until he turns 19. After that, he's emancipated and there is no further legal duty.

If he's not your child, then you have no legal responsibility in the first place.

P.S.: None of the child's criminal or drug history has anything to do with it. That neither increases nor decreases your responsibility, if any.
 
I believe this is coming from the Child Support Standards Act that outlines a parents "basic child support obligation" as 17% of their combined income for one child. (And yes, the age of majority in New York as it relates to this issue is actually 21.)

The only way around it is if the child is emancipated by the court. Typically, that is going to happen because the child moves out on their own and is no longer financially dependent on the parents. A parent can seek to forcefully emancipate a child, but they have to demonstrate outrageous behavior that essentially makes it unreasonable for the child to expect continued support.
 
Back
Top