House Bill 847 ("HB 847") was introduced in the Georgia 2005 General Assembly Legislative Session. The proposed bill, if enacted, would make Georgia the 21^st state to enact legislation that comprehensively addresses emancipation of minors, including the processes of emancipation as well as the rights and duties emancipation confers on minors, parents, and guardians.

Emancipation is defined in Black's Law Dictionary as a "…surrender and renunciation of the correlative rights and duties concerning the care, custody, and earnings of a child; the act by which a parent (historically a father) frees a child and gives the child the right to his or her own earnings…This act also frees the parent from all legal obligations of support. Emancipation may take place by agreement between the parent and child, by operation of law (as when the parent abandons or fails to support the child), or when the child gets legally married or enters the armed forces." As it has been used statutorily, emancipation confers rights such as the ability to make enforceable contracts, the right to sue and be sued, the right to be domiciled where one desires, and the right to act autonomously, to a minor who has shown that he or she is capable of being independent. A minor does not otherwise obtain such rights until reaching the age of majority, usually 18.

The bill would clarify emancipation law in Georgia. The bill leaves intact the processes in Georgia by which a minor becomes emancipated by operation of law (i.e. by marriage, by joining the armed forces, or by reaching the age of 18) while providing a new process by which a minor may petition the juvenile court to be emancipated. The bill also defines the rights and duties of an emancipated minor, explicating this area of law that, until now, has been regulated primarily by case law. If HB 847 is passed, the rights and duties of an emancipated minor will be the same whether that minor was emancipated by operation of law or by petition.

The bill is well drafted, though a few sections must be altered to reflect current Georgia law, notably section 15-11-202 (b), which lists persons who may file an affidavit in support of a minor petitioning for emancipation. Other important recommendations include a change to 15-11-202 (c) to clarify the procedures by which notice is given to parties in an emancipation hearing, a change to 15-11-201 (a) to limit emancipation by petition to minors who are older than 16 years of age, and a change to 15-11-203 to allow the court to appoint a Guardian ad Litem, in addition to an attorney for the child, so that the Guardian ad Litem may investigate the minor's petition.

There are several optional issues to consider concerning emancipation that have not been attended to fully in HB 847, but which the legislature may wish to address. Some of these include adding a consideration of whether or not the minor has completed high school to 15-11-204 (a) (4) and adding an option of referring the parties to mediation in 15-11-203 (4). Also, the legislature may consider adding a section allowing juvenile courts to issue an order that would emancipate a minor in a limited capacity. These are not vital to the bill, but may aid a juvenile court when facing the new possibility of a minor filing a petition to be emancipated.

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