May 2008

Monthly Archive

Do Minors Living in the State of Florida have the Right to Decide who They Live With?

Summary

In the state of Florida, do minors have the right to decide to change custody and live with a non-custodial parent?

Dear Esq. is not intended as direct personal legal advice. For direct personal legal advice regarding your own state and situation you should consult a local attorney. → You should not and may not rely on anything on this website as legal advice.

“In the state of Florida, do minors have the right to decide to change custody and live with a non-custodial parent?

Background: My child is 14 and has recently decided that she doesn’t want to move with me to a neighboring city. Instead she wants to live with her Father and continue to go to the same high school. I don’t want to give up custody, but am not clear on what our rights are.”

Generally speaking, in most states, a child does not have the right to choose with whom they will live, regardless of how old the child is, although many people mistakenly believe that there is a magic age at which children can make that choice. Some courts will, however, consider a child’s wishes when adjudicating custody and timeshare, if the child is of an age to rationally articulate their preferences.

As a practical matter, though, by the time a child is a teenager, it’s pretty hard to force them to live where they don’t want to live as, if they are determined enough, they will simply run away to the other parent, and many courts will not force a teen to go back to where they don’t wish to live.

If you reason for not wanting to give up custody is financial, you may wish to discuss your concerns with the father, and see if you can work out some acceptable arrangement. It seems perfectly reasonable for a teenager to not want to move away from all of her friends and the school that she knows, and also reasonable to live with her other parent to do so – particularly when the moving parent will not be very far away.

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State laws vary, and the above is intended as general advice, and not direct legal advice regarding any one particular situation in any one state. For direct personal legal advice related to your own situation you should consult an attorney familiar with the laws of your state and with your situation.

 

How to Handle Modification of Child Custody

Summary

Recently major changes have happened wherein my daughter’s acting detached, having deteriorating school report, and disinterested in extra curricular school activities. At her age, it seems very ideal for her not to switch homes every few days. What do you suggest I submit to court as far as a modification in custody? Also, what are the chances of me modifying custody agreement?

Dear Esq. is not intended as direct personal legal advice. For direct personal legal advice regarding your own state and situation you should consult a local attorney. → You should not and may not rely on anything on this website as legal advice.

“To make a long story short: my ex husband and myself now have a ten year old that we have shared 50/50 custody since she was 1 1/2 yrs. old. Recently major changes have happened wherein my daughter’s acting detached, having deteriorating school report, and disinterested in extra curricular school activities. Her father has always been uninvolved, (have documentations), the step mom has always been verbally abusive (calls my daughter fat, wierd, cant do anything right, etc; and I also have my daughter’s writings to prove that); and her dad’s mom has borderline personality wherein she teaches my daughter to lie, steal, and be manipulative. She is with her a lot on her Dad’s timeshare as well. The new wife is expecting a child in 3 months, and my daughter is having nightmares of more neglect from her dad once the baby is born. She has expressed repeatedly wanting to stay with me and my husband full time…as the environment has always been stable, fun and consistent for the past 8 years. She feels her step dad is more of a dad to her. At her age, it seems very ideal for her not to switch homes every few days. What do you suggest I submit to court as far as a modification in custody? Also, what are the chances of me modifying custody agreement? Not sure if there is enough change in circumstances to warrant a custody change.”

Every state, county, court and, indeed, judge, have different standards as to how much of a change is enough to warrant a change to the timeshare arrangements. You should be able to put together a fairly compelling case with letters from her teachers indicating the issues at school, along with your statement that they are having a new baby, and your daughter has complained of feeling neglected and put down by her father’s new wife. You should ask that the court order co-parent, and father-daughter counseling to help with the situation and that, in the meantime, your daughter be allowed to spend less time in the hostile environment at her father’s, until it can be rectified.

Al that said, however, you should run this by a local family law attorney, familiar with the requirements and expectations of your local court and judges.

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State laws vary, and the above is intended as general advice, and not direct legal advice regarding any one particular situation in any one state. For direct personal legal advice related to your own situation you should consult an attorney familiar with the laws of your state and with your situation.