Emancipation in Mississippi
The Mississippi Supreme Court has defined emancipation as the freeing of a child for all the period of its minority from the care, custody, control, and service of its parents; the relinquishment of parental control, conferring on the child the right to its own earnings and terminating the parent's legal obligation to support it. Caldwell v. Caldwell, 579 So. 2d 543 (Miss. 1991). In Mississippi, the duty of support of a child terminates upon the emancipation of the child. Emancipation occurs when a child (1) attains the age of twenty-one (21); (2) marries; (3) joins the military and serves on a full-time basis; or (4) is convicted of a felony and is sentenced to incarceration of two (2) or more years for committing such felony. Mississippi Code Ann. § 93-11-65(a). Mississippi Code Annotated § 93-11-65(b) also gives a court discretion on determining whether emancipation has occurred in the event none of the factors 93-11-65(a) are satisfied.
When determining whether emancipation has occurred under M.C.A. § 93-11-65(b), a Court will look first at the factors of the statute: whether the child (i) discontinues full-time enrollment in school having attained the age of eighteen (18) years, unless the child is disabled, or (ii) voluntarily moves from the home of the custodial parent or guardian, establishes independent living arrangements, obtains full-time employment and discontinues educational endeavors prior to attaining the age of twenty-one (21) years, or (iii) Cohabits with another person without the approval of the parent obligated to pay support at whether a child can support himself or herself independently.
Next, a court will analyze whether a child is fully independent. Even if a factor under M.C.A. § 93-11-65(b) has been satisfied, Courts have still found that a child is not emancipated when the child still relies on his or her parent(s) financially and is not fully independent. For example, in Caldwell, the child worked full time, paid a monthly car payment, and stopped attending college. Caldwell v. Caldwell, 579 So. 2d 543 (Miss. 1991). Despite the child being mostly independent, the child still relied on his mom for basic necessities and did not contribute to household expenses. Id. at 548. Therefore, because the child still relied on his mom for necessities and household expenses, the child was not been fully emancipated. Id. at 549. In Andrews, the child moved out of his mom’s household and was working full time. Andrews v. Williams, 723 So. 2d 1175, 1179 (Miss. Ct. App. Nov. 24 1998). Despite these facts, the child was still unable to support himself independently and relied on his mother to help pay for his necessities. Id. Thus, the Court found that the child had not been emancipated.
In Wesson, the child worked full time and had moved in with a friend for only a month. Wesson v. Wesson, 818 So. 2d 1272, 1281 (Miss. Ct. App. June 11, 2002). However, the child had to move back in with his mom because he could not support himself on his own. Id. Although the child had met the standard under the statutory to be emancipated, he still was unable to fully support himself and relied on his mother for many expenses. Therefore, the court did not find that the child had been emancipated. Id. at 1282.
Finally, in Oster, the Court found that the child was not emancipated. Oster v. Ratliff, 205 So. 3d 1149 (Miss. Ct. App. Apr. 19, 2016). Despite the child’s move out of his parent’s residence and into a shared apartment, the child still relied on his father financially and was attending school full-time. Id. Mississippi case law make clear, that even if a factor is satisfied under the statute, M.C.A. § 93-11-65(b), it is unlikely a court will find that a child is fully emancipated if the child still has to rely on a parent for financial support. Consequently, even if a factor under M.C.A. § 93-11-65(b) has been satisfied, a court will not relieve a parent of child support if the court finds that the child still relies on his or her parents in any way.
