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aprjad · Apr 23, 2010, 07:20 AM

My kids are 11 and 12 do they have any say in court

CinnamonComplexion · Apr 23, 2010, 08:39 AM

They definitley have a say in court. It may be different from state to state but I know some places like CA, and NY and so many other places, the age is 12yrs old.

Lucky098 · Apr 23, 2010, 04:04 PM

Kids do have a say in court. However, it's the judge who decides in the end.

And what do you mean by, "my kids want to live with their sister, not the father"? His sister? Or your sister? Either way, parental rights outweigh a lot of other things. There are cases where the kids end up in a bad situation due to parental rights. I don't think that's right at all.

Good luck.

ScottGem · Apr 23, 2010, 04:21 PM

Please pay more attention to posting guidelines. There is a Read First sticky in the Children forum (where this was moved from) that directs questions of a legal nature to this forum. Had you done so, you would have gotten more accurate advice.

The facts are that a child can never make this decision. Only a judge can. States vary as to how much weight they put on the child's preferences. It's a rare situation where they would give much weight to the wishes of pre-teens. What would weigh more on the court is WHY? Also, the sister would have to initiate a request for a change of custody.

ScottGem · Apr 23, 2010, 04:22 PM

Originally Posted by CinnamonComplexion

They definitley have a say in court. It may be different from state to state but I know some places like CA, and NY and so many other places, the age is 12yrs old.

Please cite any statutes that would allow a pre-teen to express their preference as to custody.

Lucky098 · Apr 23, 2010, 04:38 PM

Ive never heard of kids having a full say in what happens to them. They can voice their opinion. They can talk in court. They can talk with the lawyers and judge, but in the end, the judge rules what is necessary. And I think half the time when it's a custody case, the kids just have an insite of who is the better parent.

I'm no lawyer, so I don't know :P Just my thoughts.

ScottGem · Apr 23, 2010, 05:24 PM

Originally Posted by Lucky098

Ive never heard of kids having a full say in what happens to them. They can voice their opinion. They can talk in court. They can talk with the lawyers and judge, but in the end, the judge rules what is necessary. And I think half the time when its a custody case, the kids just have an insite of who is the better parent.

I'm no lawyer, so I dont know :P Just my thoughts.

That's why we tell people to ask legal questions on the legal forums. Answers in this forum are held to a higher standard of compliance with statutory law.

You are mostly correct. In no US court can a child decide which parent to have custody. The final decision is always left up to a judge. In some states the judges are not required to even listen to the child. In others, they must give heavy weight to the child's preference. It really varies. But generally, pre-teen's preferences are given very little weight, and they may not even be allowed to express their preference.

cdad · Apr 23, 2010, 07:10 PM

Originally Posted by CinnamonComplexion

They definitley have a say in court. It may be different from state to state but I know some places like CA, and NY and so many other places, the age is 12yrs old.

Can you post some references to the actual law where it gives an age like that for any of the states mentioned?

Fr_Chuck · Apr 23, 2010, 07:16 PM

Kids are normally at 12 allowed to testify in court as to what they want, but the judge does not always do what they want, he does what is often best for the kids, or what the law says.

Only the mother and father have legal rights to the children, so for a "sister" to get custody, the mother and father have to give up their rights, and/or there has to be a danager in their home