Legal Question in Family Law in Oregon

By law, custody of minors is a parental decision, not the child's decision.

YOUR QUESTION:

Body:

I am 13 years old and need help! My parents are through their divorce but are starting to fight over my cutody just now.

What I want to know is do I have a right to pick which parent I want to live with? If not, why not?

ANSWER:

No. Under Oregon law, you do not have the right to pick which parent you want to live with.

So long as a child is a minor, i.e., under age 18, the question of legal custody is a parental decision. Most often, when parents are going through a divorce, they make this decision on their own by mutual agreement. If they cannot decide the question on a mutually agreeable basis, the question goes to a judge, who will them make the custody decision in place of the parents. While the custody preference expressed by the child ought to be considered by the parents (and the judge, as well, if the parents cannot agree), the ultimate determination is not the child�s decision and the preference expressed by the child is not binding either on the parents or on the judge.

As cold and cruel as it may sound, the reason for this is simple: Our laws and society have traditionally made a clear distinction between adults and minors and have placed limits on what minors can and cannot do, simply on the basis that they are minors. For example, minors cannot get married (at least not without parental consent, and even then, must be at least 17); minors cannot purchase tobacco; minors cannot purchase or possess liquor; minors are subject to curfew laws; minors are subject to restrictions on driving privileges; minors cannot work beyond the hour limits set by state employment laws; minors cannot vote; minors cannot..... well, you get the idea.

By law, parents have a responsibility to support their minor children (even if the minor children do not want the support). Correspondingly, parents (as opposed to the chill) have a right to decide questions of custody, either on their own or with the aid of a judge. But Oregon law as it presently exists (and until such time as it is changed) does not accord to minors the right to make the custody decision in place of the parents or in place of the judge.

(By the way, what would/should happen if your parents were not divorced and you did not want to live with either of them? Would/should it then be your decision, to be binding on your parents and the courts?)

LAWRENCE D. GORIN

http://www.divorcesource.com/OR/pages/ldgorin.html

Law Offices of L.D. Gorin

621 S.W. Morrison St., Suite 350

Portland, Oregon 97205

Phone: 503-224-8884 (afternoons, Pacific time)

Fax: 503-274-0818

E-mail: [email protected]