# When can parents legally throw you out? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 14, 2002, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-can-parents-legally-throw-you-out/136667 "2002-11-14T02:17:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Blalron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@Blalron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blalron)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2002, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-can-parents-legally-throw-you-out/136667/1 "2002-11-14T02:17:56Z")
To put it bluntly: At what point can your parents legally evict you and throw your ass out onto the street? Could an Evil Parent go to their kid at midnight on their 18th birthday and demand that they leave? ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2002, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-can-parents-legally-throw-you-out/136667/2 "2002-11-14T02:22:38Z")
Under 18, there are varying rules according to state and municipal laws. AFAIK most states allow a legal process whereby parents can officially release themselves from responsibility for their child. If you’re 18, your ass is grass if your 'rents don’t like you. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2002, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-can-parents-legally-throw-you-out/136667/3 "2002-11-14T02:41:16Z")
Here, full legal adulthood is 21. According to a Commonwealth SC decision, if you happen to be in college at the time, they have to finish paying for the course, but otherwise they can give you yer walking papers. ---
**Author:** ![ski](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@ski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ski)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2002, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-can-parents-legally-throw-you-out/136667/4 "2002-11-14T03:49:55Z")
Your parents HAVE to pay for your college education there? Or is it if the start, they have to finish? Sounds ridiculous to me. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2002, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-can-parents-legally-throw-you-out/136667/5 "2002-11-14T03:53:47Z")
I heard recently that in Italy, parents are required by law to take in their ADULT sons no matter what age they are!! ---
**Author:** ![reprise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ea666f/32.png) [@reprise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/reprise)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2002, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-can-parents-legally-throw-you-out/136667/6 "2002-11-14T03:57:48Z")
That boggled me too **ski**. By that reasoning you could start a course at age 20 and a half and your parents would be financially liable for it after you reached adulthood (let’s hope it isn’t veterinary science or dentistry) - that’s CRAZY. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2002, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-can-parents-legally-throw-you-out/136667/7 "2002-11-14T04:57:11Z")
**Mr. Blue Sky** , there was indeed a court case in Italy where a parent was forced to support their adult (I think he was in his 30’s) son. But I’m not sure if that created precedent, or was even upheld on appeal, or what. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2002, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-can-parents-legally-throw-you-out/136667/8 "2002-11-14T16:34:24Z")
In the US, I would hope anytime…maybe that’s why they have foster families 🙂 ? ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2002, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-can-parents-legally-throw-you-out/136667/9 "2002-11-14T17:51:33Z")
Your parents should support you until your children are old enough to support you. That’s what I say. ---
**Author:** ![EchoKitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@EchoKitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EchoKitty)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2002, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-can-parents-legally-throw-you-out/136667/10 "2002-11-14T19:25:00Z")
I think there’s some kind of law that says you can’t just throw anyone out…there has to be a period of time between when you state your intentions and you actually foist them into the world. ---
**Author:** ![chukhung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e79b87/32.png) [@chukhung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chukhung)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2002, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-can-parents-legally-throw-you-out/136667/11 "2002-11-14T19:39:11Z")
I started a thread about the Italian case back in April of 2002. Here’s an excerpt from a Reuters article that was published back then: > [@](#): > > Italy’s highest appeals court has decreed that fathers must carry on supporting adult children until they find a job to their liking. > > The case revolves around a wealthy family in the southern city of Naples, where the father is still paying some $680 a month in maintenance to a son who is in his 30s and has a university law degree. > > The son also has a trust fund worth some $220,000, lives in one of the smartest parts of the city, and has turned down several job offers. > > But the court ruled that the father, Giuseppe Andreoli, who is a former parliamentarian and a respected Neapolitan medic [sic], should carry on supporting his estranged son. “You cannot blame a young person, particularly from a well-off family, who refuses a job that does not fit his aspirations. The parents have to pay for their upkeep,” said the court in a verdict handed down earlier this week. Note that I found this in the “Oddly Enough” section on Yahoo, so I can’t really vouch for the veracity. Considering the timing, I wondered at the time if it was an April Fool’s joke that Reuters had picked up as a legitimate story. Maybe an Italian Doper could verify the story and give us fuller details? ---
**Author:** ![clayton\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c57346/32.png) [@clayton\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clayton_e)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2002, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-can-parents-legally-throw-you-out/136667/12 "2002-11-14T23:36:42Z")
I’d rather know more about when can I legally get the hell out? ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2002, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-can-parents-legally-throw-you-out/136667/13 "2002-11-15T00:05:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Blalron \* > \*\*To put it bluntly: At what point can your parents legally evict you and throw your ass out onto the street? > > Could an Evil Parent go to their kid at midnight on their 18th birthday and demand that they leave? \*\* I think a child has a moral duty to get a job and pay rent as soon as they finish their education. It’s called growing up. ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2002, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-can-parents-legally-throw-you-out/136667/14 "2002-11-15T00:53:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by glee \* > \*\* > > I think a child has a moral duty to get a job…\*\* Uh huh. Fortunately for all involved, “I think” and “moral duty” are IMHO and GD kinds of things, not GD kinds of things. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2002, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-can-parents-legally-throw-you-out/136667/15 "2002-11-15T02:49:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Blalron \* > \*\* > Could an Evil Parent go to their kid at midnight on their 18th birthday and demand that they leave? \*\* Years ago, when I was working for a social service ,we saw exactly that: that young guy would come to us because it has been threw out on the morning of his 18th birthday (and as far as I remember, he was a nice guy). Of course, it doesn’t answer your question in any way since it didn’t happen in your country, but nevertheless I thought I would mention that this sort of things actually happen. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2002, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-can-parents-legally-throw-you-out/136667/16 "2002-11-15T02:59:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by manhattan \* > \*\*Uh huh. Fortunately for all involved, “I think” and “moral duty” are IMHO and GD kinds of things, not GD kinds of things. \*\* " … not **GQ** kinds of things." signed, the ever-helpful dan ---
**Author:** ![mkl12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@mkl12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mkl12)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2002, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-can-parents-legally-throw-you-out/136667/17 "2002-11-15T13:16:17Z")
I don’t know about Italy, but in Germany parents must support their children financially during the appropriate training to an occupation, § 1610 II BGB (I hope that makes sense, this legal stuff is hard to translate). It has been ruled by the German Federal Court (BGH) that appropriate in this context means according to the childs abilities and inclinations. So if the kids are smart enough to go to college, you can’t just throw them out after high school and force them to find a low paying job, you must support them until they finish their education. (IMHO) I think that makes sense for a country with an expansive social security system such as Germany. Because if the parents don’t support their children, the government must do that, and that leads to higher expanses for everybody (/IMHO) ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2002, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-can-parents-legally-throw-you-out/136667/18 "2002-11-15T17:34:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by manhattan \* > Uh huh. Fortunately for all involved, “I think” and “moral duty” are IMHO and GD kinds of things, not GQ kinds of things. Dear Mr. Manhattan, [cartoon voice ON] I’m vewy sowwy about this and now wealise what I have pewpwetwated. [cartoon voice OFF] As a polite chess teacher, I have little opportunity (or training) to let rip. So an occasional forum hijack is the best I can offer. [cartoon voice ON] I’m a webel! [cartoon voice OFF] P.S. There was a film about you by Woody Allen. The music was jolly good! ---
**Author:** ![andymurph64](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a88e57/32.png) [@andymurph64](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andymurph64)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2002, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-can-parents-legally-throw-you-out/136667/19 "2002-11-15T17:43:41Z")
I witnessed exactly this. I went home with a friend on his birthday and his parents had his stuff packed sitting outside and told him he was on his own. He was surprised. I really wasn’t. He wasn’t very nice to them and I imagine they were tired of putting up with it. He stayed with me an my 'rents for a month and then found his own place. That was when rent wasn’t so freaking high as it is today. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2002, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-can-parents-legally-throw-you-out/136667/20 "2002-11-17T06:08:45Z")
I’m reading and paraphrasing Ohio’s Revised Code right now. You have to support them until they finish high school(12th grade). This quote > [@](#): > > (D) If a parent neglects to support the parent’s minor child in accordance with this section and if the minor child in question is unemancipated, any other person, in good faith, may supply the minor child with necessaries for the support of the minor child and recover the reasonable value of the necessaries supplied from the parent who neglected to support the minor child. is interesting. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-can-parents-legally-throw-you-out/136667.md?page=2)