Legal Question in Family Law in Texas

When the child is 18. Before then, if there is a pending case involving the parents, a parent can ask the judge to talk to the child. If the child is 12 or older, then the judge is required to talk to the child. If younger, then the judge can decide if he or she wants to talk to the child.

A word of warning: Many judges do not want the child involved in the case and will be unhappy with the parent that asks that the child be involved. Other judges are just fine with it. Part of your attorney's job is to know the judge's attitudes about things such as this. Having the judge talk to the child frequently does not go well for the person asking.

If you mean decide to move out of a parent's house altogether, 18. If you mean decide which parent the child would prefer to live with, once the child turns 12, there is a procedure by which the child can talk to the family court judge on the subject and usually the judge will let the child live with the parent of prefererence unless there is some kind of issue there that would indicate the child's preference should be overridden.