California Family Code Section 6906 gives a qualifying minor’s consent to medical or dental care the same legal force as an adult’s consent, so no parent signature is needed and the provider can treat the minor directly. Who qualifies depends on the route: a minor can consent to general care by meeting age, residency, and financial-independence tests; an emancipated minor can consent to a broader range of care without those tests; and any minor of the right age can consent to certain sensitive services (pregnancy care, mental health counseling, substance abuse treatment, STD care, and sexual assault treatment) no matter their living situation.
What Section 6906 Actually Does
Section 6906 sits inside California’s minor consent framework in Family Code Part 4. It establishes the underlying principle that when a minor qualifies under any of the consent provisions in the chapter, that consent alone authorizes treatment. Section 6920 reinforces the point by stating outright that a minor may consent to the services described in the chapter and that parental consent is not necessary.
For a provider, the effect is clean. Valid consent from a qualifying minor lets the provider proceed the same way they would with an adult patient. The minor enters the treatment relationship independently, and the provider faces no legal exposure from a parent who later objects.
The rest of the chapter fills in who qualifies and for what. Section 6906 is the hinge; the specific gateways sit in the surrounding statutes.
The Independent Minor Route: Section 6922
Section 6922 governs general medical, dental, and vision care. A minor consents on their own only if all three conditions are met:
- The minor is at least 15 years old.
- The minor is living apart from their parents or guardian. It does not matter whether the parent agreed to the arrangement or how long the separate living has lasted.
- The minor is managing their own financial affairs. The source of the income does not matter, but the minor must be handling money independently rather than through a parent.
A minor who meets all three can walk into a doctor, dentist, or optometrist and authorize routine care the same as any adult patient.1California Legislative Information. California Code Family Code 6922
One consequence surprises people. When a minor consents under Section 6922, the parents are not financially responsible for the care. The statute shields parents from liability for bills that result from treatment their child authorized independently, and the payment obligation shifts to the minor.
Emancipated Minors
An emancipated minor has broader consent rights than a minor qualifying under Section 6922. Under Section 7050, an emancipated minor is treated as an adult for purposes of consenting to medical, dental, and psychiatric care, with no requirement to prove separate residence or financial independence.2California Legislative Information. California Code Family Code 7050
Section 7002 lists the three ways to become emancipated:
- A valid marriage or domestic partnership, even if later dissolved.
- Active duty service in the United States Armed Forces.
- A court-issued declaration of emancipation under Section 7122.
The two big differences from the Section 6922 route: an emancipated minor can also consent to psychiatric care, and none of the independence or age tests apply beyond what emancipation itself required.3California Legislative Information. California Family Code 7002
Sensitive Services Any Minor Can Consent To
Separate statutes let minors consent to specific categories of care regardless of whether they live at home or depend on a parent financially. Each has its own age threshold and its own rules.
Pregnancy-Related Care
A minor of any age may consent to medical care for preventing or treating pregnancy. Sterilization is the exception and still requires parental consent.4California Legislative Information. California Code Family Code 6925
Outpatient Mental Health Treatment
A minor who is 12 or older may consent to outpatient mental health counseling or residential shelter services if the treating professional believes the minor is mature enough to participate meaningfully. Maturity, as judged by the clinician, is now the sole threshold.5California Legislative Information. California Family Code 6924
Parents are not liable for payment for outpatient mental health services their child authorizes under this section, mirroring the rule under Section 6922.
Substance Abuse Treatment
A minor who is 12 or older may consent to medical care and counseling for a drug or alcohol problem.6California Legislative Information. California Family Code 6929 The confidentiality rules here are narrower than for other services. The treatment plan must include parental involvement when the provider considers it appropriate, and the provider must document either the attempt to contact the parent or the reason contact would be inappropriate. If a parent brought the minor in for treatment in the first place, the provider must disclose medical information about that care to the parent on request, even over the minor’s objection.
Sexually Transmitted and Reportable Diseases
A minor who is 12 or older may consent to diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of sexually transmitted diseases, and to care for any infectious or communicable disease that must be reported to the local health officer.7California Legislative Information. California Code Family Code 6926 The word “prevention” carries weight. A minor does not need to already have a condition to seek care; testing, vaccines, and preventive treatment all fall within what a 12-year-old can authorize.
Rape and Sexual Assault
The two overlap but sit in different statutes. Under Section 6927, a minor who is 12 or older and alleged to have been raped may consent to diagnosis, treatment, and evidence collection related to the alleged rape.8California.Public.Law. Family Code Section 6927
Section 6928 covers sexual assault more broadly and sets no minimum age. Any minor alleged to have been sexually assaulted may consent to medical care for diagnosis, treatment, and collection of medical evidence. The provider must attempt to contact the minor’s parent or guardian and document those attempts, unless the provider reasonably believes the parent or guardian committed the assault.9California Legislative Information. California Family Code 6928
When Providers Still Have to Contact a Parent
Minor consent is not the same as guaranteed confidentiality. Several of the statutes require the provider to make a good-faith effort to reach a parent, and to document what they did.
For outpatient mental health treatment under Section 6924, the provider must involve the parent unless, after consulting with the minor, the provider decides parental involvement would be inappropriate. The record must reflect the attempt, its outcome, or the reason contact was not appropriate.5California Legislative Information. California Family Code 6924
For substance abuse treatment under Section 6929, the same documentation requirement applies, and the treatment plan should build in parental involvement when the provider considers it appropriate.6California Legislative Information. California Family Code 6929
For sexual assault care under Section 6928, the provider must attempt contact and record those attempts, with the perpetrator exception described above.9California Legislative Information. California Family Code 6928
Pregnancy care under Section 6925 and STD care under Section 6926 do not carry comparable notification requirements, which is why those two categories offer the strongest confidentiality for minors.
Who Pays
Because parents did not authorize the treatment, they are not billed for it. This applies to general medical, dental, and vision care consented to under Section 6922,1California Legislative Information. California Code Family Code 6922 and to outpatient mental health services under Section 6924. The obligation runs to the minor.
For a self-supporting minor, that may not be a real obstacle. For a 12- or 13-year-old seeking counseling or substance abuse treatment, it can be. Insurance carried through a parent’s plan complicates confidentiality further, because a claim can trigger an explanation of benefits that reaches the parent.
Provider Good-Faith Reliance
The provider’s job under these statutes is to make a reasonable determination that the minor qualifies to consent, and to record that determination. For Section 6922, that means assessing age, living situation, and financial independence. For the service-specific statutes, it usually means age plus the nature of the presenting condition.
A provider who relies in good faith on a minor’s statements about eligibility is protected. If a 16-year-old says they live apart from their parents and manage their own money, and nothing about the encounter contradicts that, the provider is shielded from liability even if the claim later proves inaccurate. Requiring independent verification of every minor’s home life would defeat the purpose of the statutes, which is to keep care accessible when parental involvement is not possible or not safe.