Legal Question in Family Law in Tennessee

child's preferences in custody matters

A Tennessee statute related to divorce indicates a judge has to give weight to a child's preferences as to where she wants to live, but the amount of weight given varies with age and is at the discretion of the judge. Other things equal, a 14 year old should be able to decide where she wants to live. There are appellate law precedents to that effect. In Anderson County, a 13 year old successfully petitioned the court to change her custody situation. If you file a petition seeking custody and your 13 year old neice separately files a petition seeking to live in your house, then it would be very hard for a judge to deny both petitions. However, your neice's life might be "hell" once her adoptive mother finds out until the hearing is scheduled and the judge signs an order. That will usually take 3 months or longer. You can speed things up if you know the right documents to file. Go to http://riskmgmt.biz/prose.htm and check out some of the pleadings there for free assistance. If you want to pay me to draft the documents, please contact me at my e-mail address (also given on that web page).