Salt Lake City, UT asked in Family Law and Child Custody for Utah

Q: Can a child choose to live with dad. Even though he is on supervised visits issued by a judge.

2 years ago dad was put on supervised visits because he is an alcoholic. The mother began to let the kids go with their father without supervision and without going back to court. Now the 14 year old child wants to live with dad. Is that possible?

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1 Lawyer Answer
Mike Branum
Mike Branum
Answered
  • Saint George, UT
  • Licensed in Utah

A: Possible? Almost everything is. Advisable? Probably not unless dad is a year sober. Legal? You have already set a precedent by allowing variations from the court order. If dad petitions the court, he could possibly get more visitation than the current order but it is much less likely that he would be awarded primary custody absent a finding that it is in the child's best interest. If dad is still an alcoholic, that would be a tall order.

You do not really indicate your position regarding the situation. If you are asking if you can just throw your child to the wolves and allow them to live with their alcoholic father, then the answer is sure, you CAN do a lot of things. If your child is abused, neglected, injured, or killed due to the inability of your alcoholic ex to "adult," you could be held accountable for failing to protect your child.

Teenagers are difficult to deal with when you have two parents who are working collaboratively to do so. You are in a most unenviable position. If the dad continues to struggle with addiction, you should attempt to comply with the court order as much as possible. The guilt you will have to endure if anything happens to your child while with dad unsupervised will be immense. If dad is making progress and staying sober, it would be a lot more reasonable to consider unsupervised visitation and/or primary custody.

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