EMANCIPATION
The act or process by which a person is liberated
from the authority and control of another person.
The term is primarily employed in regard to
the release of a minor by his or her parents,
which entails a complete relinquishment of the
right to the care, custody, and earnings of such
child, and a repudiation of parental obligations.
The emancipation may be express—pursuant to
a voluntary agreement between parent and
child—or implied from conduct that denotes
consent. It may be absolute or conditional, total
or partial. A partial emancipation disengages a
child for only a portion of the period of minor-
ity, or from only a particular aspect of the par-
ent’s rights or duties.
There is no determinate age when a child
becomes emancipated; it usually, but not auto-
matically, occurs upon the attainment of the age
of majority.
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