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How old does a child need to be
to pick which parent they want to live with? My name is Nancy Jo Thomas, and I'm a
Family Court Lawyer, and I've been practicing in Anderson, South Carolina for over 20 years now.
I get asked that question so many times.
And the answer is kind of surprising to people, the answer I usually give is,
when they're 18. Because technically a child doesn't have the right to choose
where they want to live.
Their parents are the people who are supposed to govern their conduct,
tell them how they're going to live, and where they're going to live.
And if the parents can't agree, of course
a Family Court judge steps in and makes that decision. However, as children get older,
they do have some input into the process
A lot of times I explain it like this to people:
If you've got 14-year-old who says that he wants to live with dad,
because dad's house is very structured, he feels comfortable there,
he gets help with this homework, and things are just very solid and stable there,
a judge and a guardian are going to pay a lot of attention to that.
But if you have the same fourteen-year-old wanting to stay at moms house
because they always get to eat pizza, and they get to stay up as long as they want to,
and she doesn't really care whether they go to school or not, of course that opinion from that
fourteen-year-old would have very little weight with the Family Court.
Now, very rarely are they that drastic
of opinions from the teenager, but that's just an illustration of why
you can't let a teenager run the case
in a custody situation. But as children do get older
they do get to have an opinion, they do get to express an opinion to a guardian
about why they like being in one place or the other.
But that doesn't necessarily mean that the court is gonna do
exactly what that child wants, in the end they're still a child.
So if you've got questions about this, if you have more
concerns about what's going on in your case, or possibly you're worried about a
teenager that's in a
situation, and they need to change the situation,
I'd be glad to talk with you about it. Call me at: (864)226-7222
our check out our web site at www.TandPLegal.com
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