When Teenagers Want to Move Out

For some adolescents, moving out early becomes unavoidable because they are starting vocational training or college away from home. For other teenagers, family conflicts may be a reason to consider finding another place to live. However, young people are not allowed to freely choose their place of residence until they turn 18. Before that, the rule is: Minors can only leave their parents’ home with their parents’ consent. In this article, you’ll learn about the legal situation when tensions and conflicts with parents are the reason for moving out, and what parents and young adults need to know about this topic.

It is a completely normal part of development for teenagers to want to break away from home in order to enjoy their freedom and independence. However, until their children reach the age of majority, parents bear full personal care and financial responsibility for their children within the scope of parental authority. Personal care also includes the so-called right to determine the child’s place of residence. This means that parents can decide where their child will live permanently and where their primary residence will be. Therefore, anyone who wants to move out early, at age 16 or 17, must have their parents’ consent.

If you consider your child mature and responsible enough to live on their own, or if starting vocational training or college requires a change of residence, there’s nothing standing in the way of them getting their own apartment or a room in a shared apartment—provided they have the consent of their legal guardians. However, young people under the age of 18 have limited legal capacity. As a result, minors are not permitted to sign a lease on their own. Contracts with utility providers or cell phone service providers also require parental consent as long as the child is a minor.

In cases of serious circumstances that endanger the child’s well-being, adolescents can contact the Youth Welfare Office to receive support and obtain an appropriate ruling from the family court, such as one that revokes the right to determine the child’s place of residence. “Normal” conflicts, such as those that occur in nearly all families during puberty, are not sufficient grounds for such far-reaching measures.

Parents are responsible for supporting their children, even after they turn 18. The obligation to provide support ends only when the children are financially independent—that is, generally after they have completed vocational training or a degree program, or, under certain other conditions, upon reaching the age of 25. This also applies if the children no longer live at home.

If a young person is in vocational training and therefore no longer lives with their parents, a vocational training allowance may be paid if the eligibility requirements are met. Students can apply for BAföG. If the education is school-based, the student may be eligible for Schüler-BAföG. Minors who are apprentices or students have the same eligibility as adults. Tips on how to vocational training or studies can be found on the Familienportal.NRW website.