Q: Can I lose sole custody of my 15-year-old son?
My son moved with me 5 years ago from Michigan to Wisconsin and it was court approved. Since living in WI he has made great friends, plays in sports he never did before, and has great grades in school. Back in December of 2018, my son told an older cousin of his back in Michigan that he wanted to move back to Michigan. This older cousin then told my son's father this and it opened a can of worms. When my son first told me he wanted to move back because he missed his family there, he stated he only wanted to try it for a year and then make a decision. Our son went back and forth for months as to if he was going to move or not. When he would go to his dad's for visitation, he would come back saying he wanted to move, then be at our house and not really say for sure he wanted to move. He finally said no, that he was not going to move back to Michigan in May. Now, here in September, I received court papers from my ex requesting change of custody and for our son to be interviewed.
A:
This being in the midst of a school year, I doubt a judge would order a change at this point. However, your son is 15, old enough and hopefully mature enough for a judge to take his opinion seriously. If he wants to move back to Michigan, and can articulate valid reasons (besides "Dad lets me party all night long"), a judge will likely order the change, but at a point that won't unduly interfere with his education (i.e., there won't be a hearing next week, and the judge orders your son to start at his new school by the end of October).
Typically with parents in two different states, whomever your son lives with during the school year, the other parent will have parenting time for substantially all the normal school breaks (e.g. spring break).
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