How to Ask the Court to Emancipate You

Use the Do-It-Yourself Emancipation tool to prepare the forms you need. You will not file all of these forms at the beginning of your case. You will file some later. These instructions explain how many copies you need of each form and when you will need them.

Some of the steps later in these instructions may have slightly different information for you depending on how you will file with the court. Some courts also have other forms you must file with your petition. Call the circuit court clerk’s office in your county or visit their website to see if they have local forms that need to be filed with your petition.

Each court decides how it will accept documents for filing. Contact your court to find out which methods are available. Depending on your court, you may be able to file by: 

• In-person filing
• E-mail
• E-Filing using MiFILE
• Mailing or dropping off documents

You can find contact information for your court on the Courts & Agencies page of Michigan Legal Help.

MiFILE is only available for some courts. Even in courts where it is available, you can only use it for some case types. The State Court Administrative Office keeps a chart of courts that use e-Filing. To learn more, read What Is E-Filing?.

Please note that completing the documents on Michigan Legal Help or Law Help Interactive does not file anything with the court.

You must read and understand the laws about emancipation. They are MCL 722.1 through 722.6. The petition includes a statement that you have read these. Be sure you understand them before you file anything with the court.

For a partial summary of these laws, also read What Is Emancipation? and I Want to Be Emancipated.

Date and sign the petition. When you do this, you are saying the information in the petition is true.

Take your petition to the person who will complete the affidavit for you. This person is called the affiant. Ask the affiant to review the petition and fill out the Affidavit section on the second page. If there is not enough room on the form, they can use another page. If they use another page, they should write “See attached” in the space on the form.

The affiant must sign the form in front of a notary. A notary can usually be found at a bank or the court clerk's office. The affiant will need to show the notary photo identification, such as a driver’s license or state ID card. There may be a fee. 

You need a certified copy of your birth certificate to file with the petition. Read the article I Want to Be Emancipated to learn where to get one.

In some counties the court clerk’s office will make copies for you. Call the clerk’s office and ask if you need to make your own copies.

Make copies as follows:

• Petition for Emancipation (and any documents attached to it)—A copy for yourself and one for each parent, guardian, or custodian 
• Notice of Hearing—One copy for the affiant (the person who filled out the affidavit section of your petition)
• Summons—A copy for each parent, guardian, or custodian

The Do-It-Yourself Emancipation tool gave you several forms. For this step, you need: 

• Petition for Emancipation, Affidavit, Waiver of Notice form
• Addendum to Protected Personal Identifying Information form
• Each Summons form (you may have more than one)
• Notice of Hearing form

Bring all of these forms and all copies of these forms with you to the clerk's office in the circuit court you selected when you used the Do-It-Yourself Emancipation tool. Ask the clerk for a hearing date and time when you file your petition. Write down the date, time, location, and judge the clerk gives you on all the copies of the Summons and Notice of Hearing. Give the clerk all of the copies. The clerk will give you back what the court doesn't need. 

If you are e-filing, some courts will have you leave the hearing date and time blank on the Notice of Hearing and Summons forms. In other courts, you will need to call the court clerk and ask for a hearing date and then fill out the date, time, location, and judge on the Notice of Hearing and Summons forms. Then, you can electronically file your completed forms with the court. If you are using MiFILE you will need to know the case-type code. The code for emancipation is EM.

You must pay a filing fee of $175 when you file your petition. If you can’t afford to pay the filing fee, you can file a Fee Waiver Request asking the court to waive it. To learn more about qualifying for a fee waiver, read Fee Waivers in Court Cases. Use the Do-It-Yourself Fee Waiver tool to prepare your Fee Waiver Request.

Your case will not start until you pay the filing fee or the court waives your fee.

You must have each parent, guardian, or custodian served with the petition, any attachments to the petition, and a Summons. You must arrange for service of the papers. You must also have a Notice of Hearing served on the affiant (the person who completed the affidavit for you), unless the affiant checked the box in front of number four in the Affidavit part of the petition.

If you filed a Fee Waiver Request, you must also have a copy of that form and a copy of the court's decision served on the other party or parties.

Some courts will serve the papers for you. If so, you may have to pay a fee. Ask the clerk’s office if they serve the petition for you.

If the court is not going to serve these papers, you will need to arrange for service. You cannot serve these papers yourself. Ask an adult you trust to serve the papers. The server can personally give the papers to each person who needs to be served.

The server can also mail the papers. If the papers are mailed, they must be sent by certified or registered mail with a return receipt requested and delivery restricted to the addressee. This type of service only works if the person receiving the papers signs the return receipt (a green card) and returns it through the mail. The return receipt must be attached to the Proof of Service (See Step 9).

If you used the Do-It-Yourself Emancipation tool, you got three different Proof of Service forms. On each Proof of Service form, look at Line 1. Find the Proof of Service that says on Line 1 "Titles of the papers served or mailed: Petition for Emancipation, Affidavit, and Waiver of Notice of [your name] and Summons." Ask the person who served these documents to fill out this Proof of Service. Make a copy of the Proof of Service for your own records.

Also find the Proof of Service that says "Titles of the papers served or mailed: Notice of Hearing." Ask the person who served these documents to fill out this Proof of Service. Make a copy of the Proof of Service for your own records.

If service was done by mail, attach the green return receipt to the Proof of Service before filing. File both Proofs of Service at the court clerk's office. If you used e-mail or MiFILE to file your petition, you may be able to e-file your Proofs of Service. 

These are brief instructions for going to your court hearing. To learn more, read What to Expect When You Go to Court. 

Attend the hearing and be prepared to present your case to the judge or referee. Bring all your evidence to court with you. For example, bring documents that support what you said in your petition, such as:

• Proof of your employment, such as paycheck stubs
• Proof of housing, such as rent receipts, a lease, a letter from the property owner
• Report cards or attendance records, if you’re in school
• Any documents showing your involvement in the community
• A budget you have prepared showing your income and expenses

Make multiple copies of each document you bring, so you have a copy for yourself, the judge, and each parent, guardian, or custodian.

You can also bring any witnesses that you have.

Go to the hearing location on the scheduled day and time. Dress neatly. Arrive 10 or 15 minutes before your scheduled hearing time. Go to the clerk and tell them your name, that you are there for a hearing, and that you are representing yourself. Follow the clerk’s directions and do not interrupt any hearing in progress.

Be ready to talk about the things you wrote in your petition and have your documents organized. Be ready to spend most of the morning or afternoon in court. Remember to speak clearly, answer any questions the judge or referee asks, and don’t interrupt the judge, referee, or anyone else.

The judge or referee may hear your entire case at the first hearing. They may also schedule another hearing date to finish your case.

Bring your order to the hearing with you. Fill it out so it says what the judge or referee orders in court. Ask the judge or referee to sign it then.

In some courts, court staff will complete the order, serve it, and file a Proof of Service. Find out from the courtroom clerk if you need to do any of these things yourself.

If the court does not take care of service for you, give each parent, guardian, or custodian a signed copy of the order if they are at the hearing. If they did not appear at the hearing, send them a copy of the order by first-class mail within seven days after the order has been signed. Then fill out the final Proof of Service that you got when you completed the Do-It-Yourself Emancipation tool. This is the Proof of Service that says on Line 1 "Title of papers served or mailed: Order Following Hearing on Petition for Emancipation."

After you complete it, make a copy for your own records. Then file the Proof of Service with the clerk's office. If you used e-mail or MiFILE to file your petition, you may be able to e-file your Proof of Service.