Emancipation

Emancipation

PETITIONING FOR EMANCIPATION IN NEBRASKA

Each district court has specific local rules that may apply in your case. Check with the clerk of the district court in your county. If you fail to follow the local rules, you may not be able to finish your case.

If you are representing yourself, you must fill out all the forms. The clerk of the district court cannot help you fill out any legal forms.

These forms are meant to help people with a “simple” emancipation. A “simple” emancipation is one where all parties agree that the emancipation is in the best interest of the minor.  If all parties do not agree, you need a lawyer.

If you do not have enough money to hire a lawyer, there is another option. You can hire a lawyer to handle only part of your case. This is called Limited Scope Representation. To find out more about Limited Scope Representation click on this link, or here https://www.nefindalawyer.com/.

 

Introduction

Petitioning for emancipation means that you as a minor (someone at least 16 years old but under the age of 19) are asking a court to allow you to be treated as an adult for most purposes under the law.  If the court grants the request for emancipation, you will have many, although not all, of the rights and responsibilities of an adult under the law.

More specifically, if the court grants your petition for emancipation, you will be treated as an adult for the following purposes:

  • Deciding where you will live
  • Going into debt
  • Entering into contracts
  • Consenting to medical and psychological treatment
  • Enlisting in the military
  • Being eligible to receive public assistance benefits
  • Suing others or being sued
  • Enrolling in any school or college
  • Buying, mortgaging, or selling property

A judgment of emancipation does NOT change age requirements relating to:

  • Voting
  • Use of alcoholic beverages
  • Gambling
  • Use of tobacco products
  • Other health and safety laws or regulations that are age-dependent not listed above.

Facts About Filing for Emancipation in Nebraska

  • You must meet several requirements in order to be eligible to file a petition for emancipation in Nebraska and become emancipated. Those requirements include:
    • You must be at least 16 years old
    • You are filing the petition freely and voluntarily
    • You willingly live apart from your parent(s) or legal guardian(s)
    • You are able to support yourself without any financial assistance from anyone or that you have no parent, legal guardian or other person who is supporting you
    • You are mature, knowledgeable, and able to manage your own affairs without the guidance of a parent or legal guardian
    • You have demonstrated an ability and commitment to get and keep education, vocational training, or employment
  • A judge must find that emancipation is in your best interests.

Forms & Filing

Forms

Click on this link for a complete list of forms and instructions on how to complete the forms.

Filing the Forms

  • What must you take to the clerk of the district court to request emancipation?

You must take the following to begin the process:

  • Petition for Judgment of Emancipation (DC 6:16.3) - This is the first document you must give to the clerk of the district court. When you file this document, you begin the process of asking for a judgment of emancipation. However, filing the Petition is only the beginning of the process – you will not be emancipated until the judge signs a Judgment of Emancipation and it is filed with the clerk of the district court. Please refer to the Instructions for Completing the Petition for Judgment of Emancipation (DC 6:16.3a) for details on how to fill out the Petition.
  • Filing fee or filing fee waiver papers - In order to file the Petition with the clerk of the district court, you will need to pay the filing fee.  If you cannot afford to pay the filing fee because you have a very low income, you can ask the judge to waive the filing fee. See "Proceeding Without Payment of Fees," which has forms and instructions to help you ask the judge to waive the filing fee.

What happens once the forms are filed?

  • Once you file the Petition and either pay the filing fee or have the filing fee waived by the judge, the clerk will create a file on your case. At that point, the clerk will give your file a case number and will know the name of the judge who will hear your case. If you need the name of the judge, please contact the clerk’s office for that information. You must contact the clerk of the district court to ask how to get a hearing date and time in your case, since different courts have different procedures.

Giving Notice of the Petition

Once you file your petition with the clerk of the district court, you have to tell certain other people that you have filed the petition. This is called “service of process.” Those people include the following:

  • Your parents
  • If your parents are not your legal guardians, but someone else is, your legal guardian(s)
  • If you do not know where to find your parents or legal guardian(s), a relative closest in relationship to you who lives in Nebraska
  • If you have a legal custodian (someone who is legally required to take care of you) other than your parents or legal guardian(s), you must give notice to that person or persons

NOTE: YOU MUST SERVE NOTICE (OR FILE A VOLUNTARY APPEARANCE SIGNED BY THE PEOPLE TO WHOM YOU MUST GIVE NOTICE) WITHIN SIX (6) MONTHS OF WHEN YOU FILE YOUR PETITION. IF YOU DO NOT, YOUR CASE WILL AUTOMATICALLY BE DISMISSED.

You can serve the Notice of the Filing (DC 6:16.5) in one of the following ways: Voluntary Appearance, Praecipe for Summons, or Service by Publication. Each method is discussed in more detail below. It is best to try the Voluntary Appearance first.  If that does not work, try to give notice with the Praecipe for Summons. If that does not work, then you can ask the court to let you try Service by Publication. Use the Instructions for Completing the Notice of Filing (DC 6:16.5a).

Voluntary Appearance (DC 6:4.3) – The people to whom you must give notice can accept service by signing a Voluntary Appearance. Here is what to do:

Praecipe for Summons (DC 6:16.4)  -- You can have notice served by the sheriff in the county where the people live whom you need to serve. Here is the procedure.

  1. Prepare a Praecipe (pronounced "pray-si-pee") for Summons, using the Instructions for Completing the Praecipe for Summons (DC 6:16.4a). 
  2. File the Praecipe for Summons with the clerk of the district court where you filed your Petition. The Praecipe is a request that the court issue a Summons to be served by the sheriff on the people to whom you must give notice. The Summons tells those people that you have filed the Petition and lets them know the date, time and place the hearing will take place.
  3. If the judge waived the filing fees for you, be sure to attach a copy of the Order to Proceed In Forma Pauperis signed by the judge so the county will pay the sheriff’s bill for serving the Summons.
  4. You should list all addresses in the Praecipe where the sheriff might be able to find the people you are asking the sheriff to serve, including home and/or work addresses. If you know that the people are usually at a location during certain hours, you can list that in the Praecipe.

Service in the Same County

  • If the people you must give notice to are living or working in the county where you file your Petition, the sheriff of that county will pick up the Summons, Notice of Filing, and copy of the Petition and serve them at the address(es) you list in the Praecipe. The sheriff will then file papers with the court indicating who the sheriff served, where they were served, and when they were served.
  • If the sheriff cannot serve one or more of the people you are required to notify, you can either file another Praecipe with the court asking the sheriff to try again, or you can request that the court allow you to serve by publication. See list of forms entitled "Service by Publication" discussed below.

Service in a Different County or State

  • If any of the people you are required to serve live or work in a different county in Nebraska or in a state other than Nebraska, you must pick up the Summons from the clerk once it is ready. (You can ask the clerk when you file the Praecipe about how long it will take to prepare the Summons and how to find out when it is ready.)
  • Once you pick up the Summons, find out the address and phone number of the sheriff’s office in the county where you must mail the Summons. (If you do not know the address or phone number of the sheriff’s office, the clerk may be able to provide that to you. If the clerk cannot provide it to you, you will have to find it on your own.)
  • Before you mail the Summons, call the sheriff’s office and discuss how they expect to be paid for serving the Summons, Notice of Filing, and Petition. Some out-of-county sheriffs and most out-of-state sheriffs want payment in advance.
  • Once you make arrangements with the sheriff, mail the Summons and copies of the Notice of Filing and the Petition to the sheriff. Include a letter explaining to the sheriff that the Summons and copies of the Notice of Filing and of the Petition must be served at least 30 days before the date of your hearing.  IF SERVICE IS NOT MADE AT LEAST 30 DAYS BEFORE THE DATE OF YOUR HEARING, YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO GO FORWARD WITH YOUR HEARING.
  • When the sheriff serves notice, or if the sheriff is unable to serve notice, the sheriff will return documents to you with a "return of service." The return of service will indicate whether or not the sheriff was able to make service. You must file all of this paperwork with the court, even if service was not successful.

Service by Certified Mail

You can choose to serve notice of the hearing by certified mail service, instead of having the sheriff serve notice.  If you choose this way of serving notice, here is how to do that.

  • Indicate in the Praecipe that you wish to serve notice by certified mail
  • You must pick up the Summons from the clerk once it is ready
  • You must then mail the Summons and copies of the Notice of Filing and the Petition to those entitled to receive notice by certified mail, return receipt requested.  It is probably best to go to the post office and have them help you with this.
  • Once you receive the signed receipts back from those to whom you sent notice, you must prepare the Certificate of Mailing – Emancipation (DC 6:16.7) using the Instructions for Completing Certificate of Mailing – Emancipation (DC 6:16.7a) and file it with the court.  You must do this for each notice you served by certified mail.

Service by Publication

  • If you cannot serve notice either by sheriff or by certified mail, you can ask the court for permission to serve notice in another way, referred to as Service by Publication.

Notice of Hearing

At least 30 days before you go to court, you must send notice of the time, date, and place of the hearing to the following people by certified mail:

  • Your parents
  • If your parents are not your legal guardians, but someone else is, your legal guardian(s)
  • If you do not know where to find your parents or legal guardian(s), a relative closest in relationship to you who lives in Nebraska
  • If you have a legal custodian (someone who is legally required to take care of you) other than your parents or legal guardian(s), you must give notice to that person or persons

Complete the Notice of Hearing and Certificate of Service form (DC 6:4.5) using the Instructions for Completing the Notice of Hearing and Certificate of Service (DC 6:4.5a) .

What Happens after Service is made?

IF SOMEONE OBJECTS TO YOUR PETITION BY FILING AN OBJECTION WITH THE COURT, YOU MUST GET A LAWYER TO FINISH YOUR CASE.

Otherwise, you need to begin to prepare for the hearing.  The following section gives you more details of how to prepare.

The Hearing

You must take these documents with you to the final hearing:

 

Get to the hearing at least 15 minutes early. Once you get to the courthouse:

  • Ask the clerk of the district court where to go, and
  • Ask the clerk of the district court how to let the judge know you are there for the hearing.

The judge will come into the courtroom. Stand up when the judge comes into the courtroom. The judge will read your case name and number out loud. There will be a court reporter taking down what everyone says.

The judge may ask you to introduce yourself. Before anything else, give the court the original and a copy of the Judgment of Emancipation form.

If the judge signs the Judgment of Emancipation, that means that the judge has decided to grant your request to be emancipated. The judge will usually tell you the day of your hearing whether or not the Judgment will be signed.

If the judge signs the Judgment, you are entitled to a certified copy of the Judgment.  Talk to the clerk to see how to get a certified copy of the Judgment and what the cost will be to get one.

 

If you do not go to the hearing your case will be dismissed. Then you will have to start over again. If you know in advance you cannot make the scheduled hearing, call the court to reschedule the hearing.