In Louisiana, the legal process that takes away the right of an adult - usually your parents - to control you and to make decisions about your life and where you live, is called "emancipation."  There are different kinds of emancipation.

If you are on the street you may think you don't need emancipation.  But no matter where you live, if you have property or money that your parents are spending on themselves or others, you need legal control to use it for yourself now, or to protect it for your future. 

Also, without emancipation you can't hold other people to agreements with you; can't make contracts yourself (sign a lease, buy a car); can't control where you want to live; can't control your own medical treatment.  Even if you are living on your own now, on the street or with others who help you, without emancipation you and your property may be legally controlled by others.  With emancipation, you have most of the rights of any adult (the law still puts some conditions your power to give away or sell  your property, and to bind yourself for too much money in a contract).

You can get emancipated by:

• Notarial act.  You have to be at least 15 years old for this.  You must have the right adult sign before a notary public and 2 witnesses, declaring you emancipated.  The right adult is either your father (if your parents are alive and living together); your mother (if your father is dead); or, if your parents are divorced or separated, the appropriate legal guardian (called "tutor" in Louisiana).  If your mother wants to emancipate you but your father does not, or you don't know where or who your father is, you may have to get a lawyer's help.  Emancipation this way leaves you with some legal restrictions.
• Court order.  If your parents won't agree, you can go to court and get emancipated at age 16 or older.  You can also go to court even when your parents agree.  The advantage to judicial (by the court) emancipation is that you can get "full" emancipation - as if you had reached 18, with no limitations on your rights.  The court can order you emancipated if you show "good reason" and that you are capable of managing your life (for example, you are able to pay your bills, have a place to live, and so on).  If your parents treat you badly (for example, hit you or say bad things to you), don't support you, or give you bad examples (for example, not letting you go to school, not paying for food or clothes, breaking the law, or doing bad things to others in your family), that should be "good reason" for emancipation.  There may be other good reasons.
• Marriage.  Emancipation is automatic on marriage.  Your marriage has to be legal, though.  Until you reach age 16, you still cannot give away or sell or mortgage property such as land or a house,  without the permission of a court or the right adult. 

May parents agree to emancipate me, but they don't have the money to pay a lawyer.  What does the paper have to say to be legal?

For emancipation by "notarial act,"  a simple written statement by your parents is enough.  The statement has to be notarized, and have 2 competent witnesses.  The following is a sample form that could be used.   The notary may have another form, or you could do one yourself.  No special words are required.

                                        EMANCIPATION OF                                                      

STATE OF LOUISIANA

PARISH OF                                           

      BE IT KNOWN THAT on this            day of                                                  , 200     , before me, the undersigned notary, and in the presence of the undersigned competent witnesses, personally came and appeared [put right adult's name, marital status, and address - including parish of residence - here]:

who herein declared their intention to emancipate the child [put full name of the child here],                                                                            , who was born on                                                                     , and give their child the full power of administration of the child's estate, and to have all the rights and benefits of an emancipated minor to the fullest extent of the law.

      THUS DONE AND PASSED on                                                                   , in                                                            , Louisiana, in the presence of the undersigned competent witnesses, who have signed their names with appearers and me, notary, after due reading of the whole.

WITNESSES:                                     PARENTS:               

             NOTARY PUBLIC

You could file papers on your own, but it would be hard to do it without a lawyer.  Your best bet is to find a lawyer:

• You can call the free legal services program in your area and explain your situation.  If the program has a conflict (that is, your parents were clients of the program) that keeps it from helping you, it should be able to find you a private lawyer who will help you for free.  
• If you are a victim of violence or abuse from a family member, call the nearest domestic violence program.  It may have a lawyer who can help you.  
• If you live in Baton Rouge or New Orleans, you might find help through a free law school legal clinic (only Southern, Loyola and Tulane have these programs).

Can my parents or the court ever cancel the emancipation?

Yes.  Both your parents and the court may take back their decision at any time, and cancel ("revoke") the emancipation.  But emancipation by marriage can't be revoked, even if your marriage doesn't last. 

To revoke an emancipation, your parents would have to make another notarial act or the court would have to issue another order.  If you do well on your own, the court would have little reason to do this.  If a court ordered emancipation in the first place because your parents treated you badly, the court would not return you to your parents' control, but would appoint another adult to be your guardian (called "tutor" in Louisiana) until you reach 18. 

Yes.  When you are emancipated, you are responsible for taking care of yourself, like any adult.  This means that your parents won't have to give you money to pay for rent, car insurance, food, school, and so on, unless they are otherwise obligated to do it by contract or by law.  You'll be on your own.  Any child support award in your favor ends automatically with emancipation.  With emancipation, you can make most or all contracts freely, like any adult (you can buy and sell, and get credit cards on your own, and so on).  But emancipation also means you can be sued like any adult if you can't pay your bills.  Since you may still be protected from some debts even if you are emancipated, you should talk with a lawyer if you have a big debt or you get sued.    Q-what about criminal consequences? - still researching this.