I want to leave home.

[viki-lea]

im 16, and i'm unhappy living at home as alot of stuff has happened in my family and my parents dont know what they are doing, and this has been happening for 2 years and ive had enough, shortly after my dad cheated my sisters moved out, and now the stress has been put on me. Im depressed and i talked to my mum but she didnt mind at first. my eldest sister moved back and they have a spare room and i'd like to live with her, i told my mum but she said she has asked my grandad and im allowed to live with him. But i'd like to live with my sister becuase she lives closer to home just around the corner and my grandad lives at least 8-9 miles away and i dont want to be isolated from my family or my friends. I was wondering if i was allowed to choose where i live?

[NoMercy]

Are you still at school?

[dizmouk2009]

Unfortuanatly until you reach the age of 18 there isn't a great deal you are allowed to do as far as having the right to leave home without them giving their consent.

[NoMercy]

Diz... one does not have to reach the age of 18 before leaving home without the parents' consent...

[dizmouk2009]

Yeah my bad, I just read up somewhere on a website, I should go, my brain isn't working at all.

[viki-lea]

Yes, im still at school but i leave soon. does that help.

[Buenchico]

At the age of 16 (in the UK) you have the right to walk out of your home and never have any contact with your parents again. (If your parents reported you as missing, and the police located you, the police would be prohibited from revealing your whereabouts to your parents).

So you certainly have the right to leave home. Once you leave home it's entirely up to you to decide where you'll live. That's the legal position but, of course, 'family politics' are often just as important as the law. If you want to live with your sister, and she's happy for you to stay with her, nobody has any legal right to stop you (unless your sister is renting the property and her rental agreement prevents her from letting you live there) but that doesn't prevent your parents from putting your sister under pressure to refuse to allow you to live with her.

I note that you've written that 'they' have a spare room. If that means that your sister is living with a partner, he might well not want you to move in.

To summarise: Nobody (other than, possibly, your sister's landlord) can legally prevent you from living with your sister. But 'emotional pressures' might still dictate otherwise.

Chris

[NoMercy]

Well, I cannot have anything to add to Buenchico's reply.

He is perfectly right btw.

[viki-lea]

Thanks for your help. it was much needed.

[viki-lea]

and the other person living in the house has also agreed that i can live with them. does that help.