There are two things preventing people under the age of 18 from exercising their rights in the same way adults: tutorship to minors and parental authority. Emancipation puts an end to these two legal mechanisms.

Parental authority includes the rights and obligations of parents (or someone else who has parental authority) toward their child, from birth until adulthood: custody, supervision and education.

Tutorship to minors is the legal mechanism that protects people under the age of 18. For example, teenagers can’t sue someone for damages or rent a commercial space on their own. Their tutor must be in agreement and must represent them in any legal process that can have a major impact on their financial situation or on their life. (The law calls these legal processes “juridical acts.”)

A teenager’s tutor can be

• his or her mother and father, who act as tutors together,
  
• Her mother or her father (this is the case when one parent is dead, incapable, or has had all her parental rights taken away by the court);
  
• his or her mother or father (when one parent is dead, incapable or has had all parental rights taken away by the court),
  
• the person chosen by the parents in their will or mandate given in anticipation of incapacity (when both parents are dead or incapable), or
  
• the Director of Youth Protection, if the child was involved in an intervention.

To learn more, read our Infosheet entitled Tutorship for Minors.

There are two types of emancipation:

Simple emancipation is a legal process that gives a teenager many important rights but not full adult status.

Full emancipation is a legal process that gives a teenager almost all the same rights as an adult. (Please refer to the question “Does an emancipated minor have all the same rights as an adult?”)

A teenager who has been emancipated is called an “emancipated minor.”

Usually, a teenager must be at least 16 years old to ask for emancipation. If the teen is under 16, he or she can apply to the court. Although the law doesn’t specify a minimum age, most teenagers who obtain emancipation are 15 years old or older.

There are two ways for a teenager to obtain simple emancipation:

• by filing a declaration with the Public Curator
  
• by asking the court

Filing a declaration with the Public Curator

With the tutor’s permission, a teenager who is at least 16 years old can file a declaration of emancipation with the Public Curator. The declaration must include the teenager’s written request for emancipation and the tutor’s consent.

The declaration must also include the consent of the tutorship council. The tutorship council is made up of the teenager’s relatives and family friends (or of just one person in some cases). Its role is to supervise the tutor and make sure this person is acting in the best interest of the teenager if the tutor is not the teenager’s parent or if the teenager owns property worth $25,000 or more.

There is no tutorship council in other cases. As a result, it is quite rare for the parents of a 16-year-old to file together a declaration of emancipation with the Public Curator. The application for emancipation in this case is usually done through the court.

Also, a tutor who agrees with the legal acts the teenager wants to carry out usually does them for the teenager instead of going through emancipation. It is a simpler, less drastic way to achieve the same result.

Asking the court

Teenagers can apply for simple emancipation on their own. The application must be made to the Superior Court. This happens, for instance, when the tutor does not agree to the emancipation. The judge will determine whether emancipation has been requested for serious reasons and whether it is in the teenager’s best interest. The judge will listen to what the tutor has to say, as well as to the opinion of the tutorship council, if there is one.

Teenagers usually qualify for legal aid due to their limited income. This means they will be assigned a lawyer to help them through the process. To learn more, visit the website of the Commission des services juridiques (legal services commission).

With simple emancipation, the teenager is no longer under the authority of his or her parents or tutors. Therefore, the parents do not have the duties of custody, supervision and education. Once custody is terminated, the teenager is not required to live with his or her tutor and will not be considered a runaway.

Under simple emancipation, the teenager is able to do some things alone that would otherwise need the tutor’s involvement. For example, under simple emancipation, minors do not have to be represented by their tutors when exercising their civil rights. They can therefore sign contracts and defend their own rights.

However, the tutor of a teenager who has obtained simple emancipation still has the duty to advise and to supervise acts that could seriously affect the teenager’s financial situation. For example, the tutor will get involved if the teenager wants to refuse an inheritance or plans to accept a gift that comes along with a heavy burden (such as the gift of a cottage that requires the owner to repair the balcony and clear the access routes every year).

A teenager who has obtained simple emancipation cannot take out a major loan (such as a mortgage) without the court’s permission. The court makes its decision after consulting the tutor.

A teenager can obtain full emancipation in two ways:

• through marriage
  
• by asking the court

Through marriage

A teenager who gets married is automatically fully emancipated. This doesn’t mean that a teenager can run off and get married just to have the same freedoms as an adult. By law, a teenager must have the consent of both parents to marry. Also, the minimum age is 16.

Asking the court

Teenagers can also apply for full emancipation on their own. The application must be submitted to the Superior Court. This happens, for example, when the tutor does not agree to the emancipation. The judge will determine whether emancipation has been requested for serious reasons and whether it is in the teenager’s best interest. The judge will listen to what the tutor has to say, as well as to the opinion of the tutorship council, if there is one.

Teenagers usually qualify for legal aid due to their limited income. This means they will be assigned a lawyer to help them through the process. To learn more, visit the website of the Commission des services juridiques.

There must be very good reasons to give such important rights to someone who hasn’t reached adulthood yet. The law does not simply emancipate teenagers who are upset about their curfews or whose parents forbid them from seeing certain people.

Emancipation exists to protect a teenager’s rights in very specific circumstances. Consider the following examples (some are fictitious, others are based on real cases):

• Myra is 17 years old. She works full-time and is completing her high school diploma on a part-time basis. She also takes very good care of her 10-year-old sister, Charlotte, because her mother is very ill. Myra’s mother dies without naming a tutor for her daughters. Nobody they know is interested in taking on this role. Myra applies for emancipation so she can become Charlotte’s tutor and continue to care for her even if Myra is still under 18.
  
  
• 15-year-old Stella is pregnant. Her parents want nothing to do with her. She is placed under the custody of the Director of Youth Protection. Stella wants to be emancipated so she can sign a lease, apply for welfare payments and be her child’s tutor.
  
  
• Huan is a mature and responsible 16-year-old. Since his parents died, his aunt Zheng has been looking after him and his finances. Huan will be starting CEGEP next year in a new city. At Huan’s request, and with the approval of the tutorship council, Zheng files a declaration of emancipation for her nephew with the Public Curator. That way, when Huan moves to the new city, he will be able to sign a lease for an apartment and manage the funds that have been put aside for his education and basic needs. Zheng will continue to advise him as much as possible.
  
  
• Federico is under the tutorship of the Director of Youth Protection. He will soon be turning 18. This means he will have to leave his group home and look after his own needs. He is asking for emancipation so he can sign a lease and other types of contracts. This will make it much easier for him to find an apartment and a job, etc.
  
  
• A 17-year-old wants to get her driver’s licence. The Société d’assurance-automobile du Québec (SAAQ) insisted on having her parents’ signatures and refused the signature of a representative of her tutor, the Director of Youth Protection (DYP). It was impossible for her to get her parents’ signatures since her mother was dead and her father’s whereabouts were unknown. The judge emancipated her so she could get her driver’s licence. (This example is based on a case from 2003. The SAAQ now accepts the signature of a DYP representative if it is accompanied by proof that the teenager is under the DYP’s protection.)

These examples show that emancipation is a drastic solution for dealing with very particular situations, which often have to do with youth protection. It is generally provided to older teenagers (close to adulthood) who are very mature and can take on important responsibilities.

With full emancipation (as with simple emancipation), the teenager is no longer under the authority of his or her parents or tutor. It gives the teenager full legal capacity, including certain rights and duties usually reserved to adults. Therefore, emancipated minors can sue their parents for support, make a will, sign a lease, buy, rent, sell, or take out a mortgage, just like adults.

However, not all of the teenager’s rights are affected by emancipation. Please refer to the question “Does an emancipated minor have all the same rights as an adult?”

No. An emancipated minor only has certain rights, including those found in the Civil Code of Québec, such as signing contracts, living away from his or her parents, making a will or suing someone. An emancipated minor can also obtain a driver’s licence without his or her parents’ permission. A fully emancipated minor is entitled to welfare payments, etc.

Emancipation has no effect on the teenager’s rights under other laws. For example, an emancipated minor does not have the right to vote, buy cigarettes, go to bars or rent movies rated 18 and up. Also, an emancipated minor will not be tried as an adult if charged with a crime.