Legal Question in Family Law in Virginia

Custody

My step child will turn 13 in a month. Will the judge listen to him if he wants to come and live with us instead of the custodial parent? If not at what age do they take this into consideration?? Also, when we visited this past weekend we heard stories of a live in uncle letting an older sibbling hit the other child and the uncle verbally abusing the younger child~~ If the child is affraid to tell, what can we do to get evidence on this??


Asked on 3/02/05, 6:54 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Fred Kaufman Fredrick S. Kaufman, Esquire

Re: Custody

The way to both get the child to state his preference and have his testimony preserved is for the court to appoint a "Guardian ad Litem" to represent the child. The courts do this often is cases of contested custody or abuse allegations. Another way to deal with abuse is to report it to Child Protective Services with the city or County you live in.

Good luck

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Answered on 3/02/05, 7:46 pm


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