ok so i am almost at the leagal age for immancipation, and i am going to go through with it. but thats not my problem. An old family friend that i grew up with (she is 3 or 4 years younger) is having family troble, her mother is a crack addict and her father is a drunk and she is currently living with her grandmother that is on her deathbed. Her mother and her father are divorced, and both of them want custody when her grandmothr dies, so both of them are fighting over her. She doesnt want to live with them, she hates them (i would too if my parents whrer like that) so i was talking to a loyer and he said that even though i'm not 18 i can fight for custody, and she wants to live with me. so what should i do???

They state might not consider you, because of your age. They might end up sending her into foster care. Which isn't good at all. If your lawyer thinks you have a good chance, or maybe your parents do, then you should go for it.

If you haven't already, explain the whole thing to your parents. They can be quite supportive, especially if you can show that her parents are unfit, which is clearly visible in this case. If she wants to live with you, then have your parents fight with you, but make the case yourself. Yes, fight for her. She wants to live with you. I'd do it for one of my friends, even if my parents didn't support me. If you can show that you're responsible, you'd be considered, and that's my firm belief. I hope you can do it, I'm rooting for you.

I don't think you'll be allowed to have custody of her due to your age. More than likely she'd be put into the care of a trusted relative or sent away to the foster care system.

While being emancipated does make you independent, it doesn't make you mature or aged in the eyes of the law. Maybe to some, but usually not the law.

If she's genuinely afraid for her well-being, perhaps she needs to contact someone or speak up when the custody battle really begins.

However, if your lawyer did say you can do this, ask him if he feels it's a cause worth fighting for. If he thinks you could win, I'd say do what will make you most happy.

I'm a bit concerned about you too, though. You're being emancipated at a young age. I assume you'll be working to support yourself, and I'd hope that you'd have enough for your friend to live off from too. It wouldn't be easy, but check out your options so you can at LEAST say you've tried.

I think that if you really really want to do this, you'd ask your parents for back-up.
After all, having two liable adults who are willing to help you out with everything will get you a bigger chance of getting custody of her.

Also, you should prove that she'll be better off when she's with you.

Well, that is a tough question. Are you able to provide for this girl the things that she will need? Food, shelter, school fees, clothing,etc.? Because when you take on the responsibility of a child no matter what age they are, that is a huge part of what you are taking on. Do you have a good stable place to live? Because you are not yet a legal adult, there may be a problem there too. I don't think she needs to be with either of her parents but, maybe she needs to go under the care of another responsible adult. It's admirable that you want to help your friend out in this way but, it may be too much for you to handle at this point in your life.

Well.... What a problem you have there!

Okay then talk to your parents about it. Maybe they can have her custody if they agree with you. just do your best and try to help her. Don't let her parents win the thing x.x Seriously she won't have a happy life with them >_<