Legal Question in Family Law in California

The child cannot ever petition to terminate visitation. Only the parents can petition to modify custody and visitation orders. There is also no specific age at which a child's wishes will be considered, and the child's wishes are never the only factor considered. The court must make a finding of what custody and visitation orders are in the best interests of the child. The more mature and intelligent the child the more weight the court will give to their wishes, but the child never just gets to decide. Lastly, unless the non-custodial parent is a danger to the child, there is a strong public policy in favor of visitation that is not going to be over-ridden by the child not wanting to visit dad. In fact, unless there is something unfit about the father, a child's feelings of estrangement from the non-custodial parent is often grounds for increased visitation, especially if the custodial parent is encouraging the child's negative feelings about the non-custodial parent.

To add to the above answer:

There is a new amendment to Family Code 3042 that took effect January 1 2011. The amendment allows a child older than 14 to request to address the court. Subsection c states:

"(c) If the child is 14 years of age or older and wishes to address the court regarding custody or visitation, the child shall be permitted to do so, unless the court determines that doing so is not in the child's best interests. In that case, the court shall state its reasons for that finding on the record."