Q: If a primary parent moves out of state can the 14 year old choose to go with that parent? There is a joint agreement.
The child has only been to the other parents house once since Christmas and he was made to go by primary parent because of not being home for one night. He is supposed to go up every other weekend but the joint parent does not enforce it. If he wanted to fight him moving and took this to court could they make the 14 year old stay in PA?
A:
Once a child turns 14, a court will start to listen to that child's desires about custody -- which is not to say that the court will let the child do whatever he/she wants to, but the court will take the child's wants into more serious consideration (and even more so as the child gets closer to age 18).
In the end, the court will make a determination as to what's in the child's best interests concerning custody -- and that may not always be what the child wants (remember when we were teenagers?).
Best of luck to everyone involved.
A: Children do not have the legal right to determine with whom they reside. The court can consider the wishes of any child and give those wishes the consideration they're due based on the age and maturity of the child. There is no magic age at which a child gets to choose, other 18, at which time he is no longer considered a child.
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