Are there any laws against leaving a family member behinde on a family vacation?

[curney13]

Me and my two young children were left, after a verbal dispute by my family in another state, with no transportation, no phone, no food, and no money; while on a family vacation.
I had to find my own way back home.
Can they do this legally?

[trucker]

Of course they can. They were being mean. Being mean isn't a crime lol.

[ezri]

If you're over 18 it's legal. They can't leave minors but if you're an adult with your own children legally it's fine.

[jan46]

If you are over 21 then you are an adult. If the kids are yours then you are responsible for them. While it is incredibly tacky for them to have done this, there is no law against it as you were with the kids. (Had just your kids been left, without an adult, then it would have been child abandonment and that is illegal.)

What you need to do is get home and never do anything with the family again. It is entirely within your rights to cut them off from any contact with your kids. You can use this specific event as justification, saying they clearly do not have the best interests of the kids in mind and you do not want to give them any chances of hurting the kids like this again.

Return anything that you have of theirs, send them a registered letter telling them that they are no longer welcome at your home and that if they do come around, you will call the cops.

[boynton35]

You mean they abandoned you in a strange place?

Since young children were involved, child endangerment laws may come into play.
But a lot more details are needed before anyone can tell you if your other family members did anything illegal.