Legal Question in Family Law in California
At what age can a child request to live with a custodial parent? My stepdaughter is 12 and is really anxious about staying with her mother due to risky behaviors, three moves in 5 years, 5 different live in friends or husbands, constant lying, recently a 3 week vacation without the children or emergency contact information. Currently we have 50/50 physical/legal, but there is also concern about the safety of her 6 year old brother?
1 Answer from Attorneys
A twelve year old child's wishes will almost certainly be heard by the judge during a custody hearing. It sounds like you already have a custody order in place, which means you need to seek a modification. In order for the court to change a permanent custody order, the party seeking the change must demonstrate that there has been a substantial change of circumstances and it is essential to the child�s welfare and interest that the custody arrangement be modified. You may have ammo for seeking the modification based on the moving, lying, risky behavior etc... Regarding the brother, courts do not like to separate siblings, so whatever custody arrangement you seek for your stepdaughter, you should also seek for the brother.
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