Legal Question in Family Law in Kentucky

My 16 year old step-son wants to come to Illinois and live with my husband and I. He lives in Kentucky with his mother and 4 siblings. We are currently in Kentucky visiting for the holiday weekend and want to take him back home with him. We have consulted a couple of local attorneys and they have told us we can take him and there's nothing his mother can do considering his age. We just want to make sure there's no way the mother can create some crazy charges like kidnapping or anything. She's very dramatic and loves to cause issues so she would never agree to him coming with us. It's a fight just to see the kids when we visit. We will go to court and get the custody legalized but can we go ahead and take him with us while we are here?


Asked on 5/30/11, 10:47 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Gregory Napier Troutman & Napier, PLLC

Assuming that the most recent custody decision was by a Kentucky court, then Kentucky law is most likely what you need to be concerned with. In Kentucky, there is no age where a minor automatically gets to decide where he or she is going to live. The age and wishes of the child are only a factor the judge has to consider. In Kentucky, only at the age of emancipation, which is 18 years old, does the court lose jurisdiction over deciding where your son resides.

So, to just up and take him in contravention of a court order or decree regarding timeshare is a risky maneuver. The mother could move the court to hold your husband in contempt which can include sanctions such a paying the mother's legal fees or even jail time.

It is best to move the court for a change in timeshare and ask the court to hear from your step-son either directly or through a Guardian ad Litem.

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Answered on 5/31/11, 5:52 am


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