At what age can a child decide which parent they would like to live with in the uk?
My partner is going through a messy split from his wife and she has stopped all contact through visits to phone calls, does he have any rights??

In the UK it is l6

UK laws may be different, but in the US, a CHILD can't decide. A child being someone under 18. Once they have reached 18 they can live anywhere they want without court intervention. Until then the decision is left to a judge. Children can express their wishes and a judge will take that into account, but the decision is still the judge's.

Finally we've found a place in the world where kids can decide where they want to live (with which parent that is) before reaching 18. I love the UK. Knew they'd get it right!

This is one of those so-often asked questions that everyone (that is, everyone not in the family law biz) seems to get wrong.

Frankly I think it's time we had a bright line rule that said at 16 or 17 kids get to choose where they live even if we're not ready to give them full rights of adults. It just makes sense to me and would solve a lot of problems.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by cadillac59

Frankly I think it's time we had a bright line rule that said at 16 or 17 kids get to choose where they live even if we're not ready to give them full rights of adults. It just makes sense to me and would solve a lot of problems.

---

I've seen the law written in a couple of states that tells the judges to listen to the kids at x age unless there is compelling reasons not to.

I would still like to see this left to a judge. I've seen cases where the kids try to play one parent against the other. But I do favor requiring the judge to have a strong reason not to listen to the kids.