When can children decide where they want to live?
Question Details:
Is there an age when children have a "absolute right" to choose which parent to live with? I was divorced in WA, and parenting plan is WA, mother was allowed to move to IA. Children, 10 and 8 are miserable.
The short answer is no. There is no age when kids have the absolute right to decide where they want to live. I've seen judges lecture 17-year olds that they will live where they are told. However, in the real world, older teenagers will make their residential parent's life miserable if they don't want to be there, and often end up just getting in their car and living where they want - but there is no legal right until age 18.
Typically,a minor child cannot choose which parent they want to live with. The court will look to many factors - home environment, income and education of the parents, the child's relationship with each parent, reason for wanting the change, etc.
However, while a child cannot outright choose where they want to live, if they over the age of 12, a child's preference is given consideration and is one of the factors that the court considers (the older the child, the more weight it is given).
