My parents are abusing me, can I live with my sister?

Maja Samsa

Maja Samsa

dipl.iur.

Can I live with my sister in England who is of legal age? I will turn 16 in August, I talked to my sister and she would agree to be my guardian. I want to leave because most of the time my parents get angry and make quarrels out of nothing, I have no right to my own opinion and they constantly compare me to others. They never see anything good that I do or when I do my best. My brother often tells them they should “slap me good”. In addition, my father constantly threatens to hit me and lurches towards me as soon as I say something in my defence. I would continue my education in England or get a job.

If parental abuse is present, it is necessary to report it to the competent Police Station or Social Welfare Centre according to the place of residence. Disagreements between parents and children can also be resolved by talking to the Centre or Family Centre. It is clear from your question that both parents exercise parental care, and thus the preconditions for the appointment of a guardian are not met, and thus neither is the legal crossing of the border and relocation to England. 

Furthermore, as regards the legal provisions, they are as follows: 

The child’s right to express an opinion 

Article 86 

(1) Parents and other persons caring for a child are obliged to respect the opinion of the child in accordance with his or her age and maturity. 

(2) In all proceedings in which a child’s right or interest is decided, the child has the right to find out in an appropriate manner the important circumstances of the case, to receive advice and express its opinion and to be informed of the possible consequences of respecting its opinion. The opinion of the child is taken into account in accordance with its age and maturity. 

The child’s right to initiate proceedings 

A child who has reached the age of fourteen has the right to independently initiate proceedings before the competent authorities in connection with the exercise of his or her rights and interests in accordance with Article 359 of this Act. 

Article 89 

The child has a duty to respect his or her parents and to assist them in carrying out tasks in the family in accordance with its age and maturity, and to be considerate of family members. 

Article 224 

A child shall be placed under guardianship if its parents: 

  1. died, disappeared, are unknown or have been of unknown residence for at least one month 
  2. are deprived of the right to parental care 
  3. are deprived of legal capacity in the part that prevents them from exercising parental care 
  4. are minors, and have not acquired legal capacity by marriage 
  5. are absent or prevented and unable to take care of their child, and have not entrusted the exercise of parental care to a person who meets the conditions for a guardian or 
  6. gave consent for the adoption of the child.