Ruling Favors Liberated Youths

Emancipated Teens Can Seek Child Support, High Court Decides

Teens who emancipate themselves from their parents could be entitled to child support even after a court rules they are independent adults, under a New Mexico Supreme Court ruling issued Monday.

The ruling states that district courts can award child support to emancipated teens, but it mentions repeatedly a threshold of “a great deal of evidence” that the parent was neglectful or making poor life choices, and that the parent is financially able to provide support.

Under New Mexico law, a teen can file for emancipation at 16 years old. Emancipation is a legal separation of a child from their parents, giving the child final say over several areas of his or her life.

Before this ruling, there was no precedent showing whether a district court could sever parts of the teen’s relationship to their parents — for example, allowing the teen to enter into legal contracts on their own or make medical decisions without parental involvement — while leaving other aspects, including the financial obligation from parent to child, said Antoinette Sedillo Lopez, Dickason professor of law at the University of New Mexico.

“Looking at this case, the district courts will have flexibility and will feel comfortable giving an emancipation order in the best interest of the child,” Lopez said.

Diamond v. Diamond, the case decided Monday, started when Jhette Diamond, then a 16-year-old sophomore at Española Valley High School, petitioned for emancipation from her mother, Adrienne Diamond, whose then-boyfriend allegedly had a history of violence and drug abuse.

According to the ruling, Jhette Diamond left home at 13. She had been working since she was 11, and continued to work while keeping good grades. She filed for emancipation and asked to pursue child support from her mother, both for the time

from when she left home until her emancipation and from her emancipation until she turned 18 or graduated high school.

The district judge granted her request, but the Court of Appeals overturned the ruling, arguing that someone who is emancipated is fully independent and not entitled to further support. The court did not rule on child support prior to emancipation.

But the state Supreme Court overturned the appeals ruling and awarded Jhette Diamond — now a 21-year-old college student — $15,278, about $13,600 of which is preemancipation child support. The amount adds together a pre-determined portion of the mother’s monthly income for the two time periods.

“I’m stunned,” said Donna J. Lynch, who represented Diamond’s mother. Lynch said she respects the court’s ruling but was shocked that the court would rule that a teen can be emancipated in some ways and not in others.

Jhette Diamond was represented by Pegasus Legal Services for Children in Albuquerque, whose co-director Liz McGrath celebrated the ruling. She said many teens seek emancipation because they are forced into it.

“We want them to make the best of their lives, and not repeat the experiences they had as children with their own children,” McGrath said. “This will leave it open for kids to keep receiving the support they need. It helps us give them a better chance at life.”