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Emancipation Proclamation: Celebrities Who Became Emancipated As Teenagers

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Emancipation is a process where a teenager can legally pursue independence from their parents. In order to get emancipated, teenagers generally have to be 16 years old and prove to the court, with the help of a lawyer like Karen Amacker Attorney, that they can take better care of themselves than their parents can. Often a teen will become emancipated if their parent is not choosing proper medical care or making other proper choices for their future. Anyone can get emancipated under the right circumstances. Even many celebrities have become emancipated because their parent(s) didn't have their best interest at heart. Here are some celebrities who became emancipated from their parents.

Maccaulay Culkin

Maccaulay Culkin was a successful child star. He played the lead in several box office hits, such as the Home Alone franchise and The Good Son. Unfortunately, his parents spent so much of their time fighting; Culkin put acting on hold to look after his brothers and sisters. By the time Culkin was 16-years-old, his parents were in an alarming custody battle and had squandered his $60 million trust fund down to $17 million. Culkin took his parents to court so he could become emancipated and handle is own trust fund so his parents couldn't spend the rest before he turned 18.

Michelle Williams

Film star Michelle Williams moved to San Diego with her parents as a child. She immediately wanted to pursue an acting career, as many do in Southern California. Unfortunately, child labor laws wouldn't allow her to spend as much time on set as she wanted to. To bypass child labor laws, Michelle Williams got her GED at age 15 so she could become emancipated and work full time.

Aaron Carter

The baby-faced Backstreet Boy has a baby-faced brother that hit stardom right behind him. Their mother, Jane Carter, acted as Aaron's manager when he pursued a solo career. At age 16, he discovered that she was dipping into his earnings. After working from morning until night on tour, he came home to find out he had unpaid bills and a million dollar tax lien because of his mother's frivolous spending. Aaron Carter immediately fired his mother as manager and filed for emancipation.

Other stars have been emancipated as well, such as Drew Barrymore and Alicia Silverstone. Most of the celebrities have the same reasons. They want to either avoid child labor laws or handle their own career decisions without needing parental signatures and approval. Some parents approve the emancipation to make it easier on them and there is no fight involved. Others however, want to make the decision take as long as possible. If the parents fight, it's ultimately up to the court to decide if you or your parent can make the best decisions for your future.


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