Legal Question in Family Law in California
Hi, I read that at the age of 14 a child can choose which parent gets custody, and I was wondering how the process works in court to pursue that? I turned 14 recently, and I live with my mother. My parents are divorced and my father works in Australia. I want to know if I would be able to live with my father if he lives in another country, and how the whole court process works. My dad has a lawyer and said that the court will appoint me a family lawyer, and my mom and dad would pay for the lawyer; however, I'm not sure how that works, so I looked for a good family lawyer online. Basically, I need as much information as I can get about getting a lawyer, the court process, laws, loopholes, etc that I need to/should know about, and really as much as you can tell me.
2 Answers from Attorneys
The judge always makes the decision as to who is going to have physical custody of the minor. It is true that as the minor gets older that the court listens more to the minor, but the judge still has the ultimate decision. The attorney that you are referring to is called "minor's counsel" and is appointed by the judge.
You heard wrong. The law requires the judge to allow a child who is 14 or older to tell the judge what they want. Younger than 14 the court doesn't even have to hear it if the judge doesn't want to. As the previous answer says, the judge decides. As for getting you a lawyer, one of your parents has to ask the court to appoint one.
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