Legal Question in Family Law in Mississippi

Legal Age for Child to decide parental custody

At what age can my child decide which parent he wants to live with? I was divorced 4 years ago and my sons, then 11 and 6 signed affidavits and told the judge they wanted to live with me, but he gave custody to their father..his reasons(they were boys, I traveled with work, etc)He said I was not unfit, but they weren't being harmed by staying with their father and he had no reason to change their environment(They would have moved from MS to GA). They are now 15 and 10 and still want to live with me, but my ex says I have to take him to court, even though they are the age they are. I can't put them through a battle again and have the judge decide against what they want because of how it affected them the last time. I guess I want to know if I can do this without taking him back to court and if so, what my chances are of winning.

Thanks


Asked on 1/25/03, 12:11 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Albert Pettigrew Law Offices Ph 228-875-8736

Re: Legal Age for Child to decide parental custody

In Miss. a 12 year old child can give the court imput about which parent he wants to have primary custody. Also the Court prefers to have children who are strongly attached to each other stay together. Short of having the judge decide, the parents must agree on a change in cusody or agree to have the issue decided by an arbitrator or mediator. You might persuade the father that it is in best interest of the children to have a family counselor arbitrate or mediate the question. If you can't agree on who the counselor will be, you might agree on two or three people who will decide who the counselor will be for you.

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Answered on 1/25/03, 12:57 pm


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