Starting at age 17?

B

BobBigBoy

5-Year Member
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Jun 14, 2011
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My DD will be 17 until late October. Will I need to sign for her on all of the enrollment paperwork, etc.? Or is she legally able to sign her own legal paperwork even though she hasn't reached 18?
 
You are legally responsible until she turns 18, legal adult, so yes, you must sign/co-sign for everything until her 18th bday.

Beware on her 18th birthday you are locked out of things, such as their medical records due to privacy acts, on your insurance or not, they will not discuss it with you unless your DD gives permission.
 
Pima said:
You are legally responsible until she turns 18, legal adult, so yes, you must sign/co-sign for everything until her 18th bday.
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I don't think that is correct Pima. Hopefully one of the lawyers will jump in, but I seem to remember reading that the legal guardian of the minor signs a document releasing the minor and then the minor has majority legal status even though they are not yet 18. So the 17 year old has the ability to sign everything themselves. Sorry I am an engineer. I don't know the legal term for the process, but I am fairly certain my description is accurate.
 
hmmmm

I am a lawyer and never gave this any thought at the time. Our DS turned 18 in the middle of BCT, but he certainly signed many documents once he walked up the stairs at Doolittle (i.e. once BCT began.) I'm pretty confident that once they go up those stairs, they're on their own. I seriously doubt you'll have to co-sign or provide an authorization after I-Day.
 
There's a form that is included in the BFE once you receive your appointment. It has a place for the parent to sign if the individual is under 18. But similar to an emancipated individual, you are basically signing over your child so they can legally sign all future documents. Both I and my son were 17 when we went into the air force. My mom signed an initial form, and after that, I signed everything myself. I was in about 2 months before turning 18. My son was about the same. I signed an initial form in his appointee's packet, and he signed all the rest.

And considering that a cadet is free to quit at any time up to 2 years; and they'll definitely be 18 way before then; then even if there were some legal angle to look at this (Which I doubt considering the air force has been doing this for more than 50 years and the army and navy for a lot longer than that); then there wouldn't really be anything legally binding that someone under 18 is actually signing for. An enlisted person going in at 17 years old is totally different. They aren't free to quit at any time. They are committed for the "X" amount of years that they initially sign for.

But back to the original question; no, the parent isn't going to be signing or co-signing anything except for that one initial form prior to BCT.
 
Christcorp is correct. Our DD, didn't turn 18 until September of her 4* year. We signed her over to the military with one form that released her to the military. Same as if one were to enlist, 17 with parent's consent then your butt belongs to Uncle Sam.
 
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