Q: In the case of a separation, can a 16 year old choose to stay with her stepmother instead of moving out with her dad.
My daughter and her husband are separating. My SIL has a 16 year old daughter from a previous marriage. She has made comments that she doesn't want to leave and wants to stay with my daughter. Is she allowed to make that decision.
A:
This is going to depend on what the parents want to happen.
A few general rules are:
1) Children don't make decisions.
2) A step parent would have no legal rights to the child unless both biological parents agreed for her to stay here.
3) The biological parents have rights superior to everyone else.
This would be an issue that the parents should discuss and try to resolve. As long as everyone is in agreement then it would not be an issue. It becomes an issue if the parents do not agree and then the child lives wherever the parents tell her.
I wish you the best of luck with this matter.
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