Get legal advice. For example, there may be a Residence Order or a Child Arrangement Order in place. You may need to download version 2.0 now from the Chrome Web Store. Short answer is yes (understand however, that these are not easy to win), if the court determines, in the best interest of the minor child, that the third person (the aunt) is truly the best person under all the circumstances who should be raising a 14 year old boy. with us (his aunt and uncle). Cloudflare Ray ID: 603ac899fb73f029 If you are on a personal connection, like at home, you can run an anti-virus scan on your device to make sure it is not infected with malware. However, there are circumstances in which aunts and uncles could possibly get custody of a child. Courts also consider your child's age when ruling in a custody case. you can’t claim him or her as a dependent not a qualifying person. If your aunt and uncle really want you to live there because your mother is an "unfit mother" then they must go to court to fight for total custody of you. Physical custody, on the other hand, pertains to where the child will live, which parent will provide what kind of care for the child, and how much time each parent will spend with the child.Legal and physical custody may be joint or sole. If your daughter can wait until she reaches the age of majority, 18 years of age, she will be free to live with whomever she chooses. If she does not provide your child at the agreed place and time, then she can be held in contempt. A child 12 years or older can state a preference for which parent he or she wants to live with so long as the following criteria are met: each parent is fit to have custody of the child; each parent can adequately provide for the child’s care and maintenance, and; it’s in the child’s best interest for the child to live … One of the scariest things you might have to do is to tell the parent you live with that you want to live … Where parents are making the decision about where a child is to live they are able to choose whether the parent or the child makes the decision. Illinois child custody laws stipulate that children 14 and older may choose which parent to live with, but the judge may overrule this decision if he or she determines the child's decision is not in his or her best interests. Please enable Cookies and reload the page. Grandparent Custody When Both Parents Are Alive Child custody laws vary by state, but in general, when both parents are alive, the court prefers to place the child with one or both of the parents. If the evidence makes the judge believe that your aunt should be your guardian, then the judge will issue an order to that effect. Your aunt can initiate guardianship proceedings. Read More: Rights of a Sole Custodial Parent When a family splits up because of a divorce, the child's mother and father are not the only family members affected by the separation, and the family court system typically does not consider aunts and uncles when they decide visitation rights. The laws relating to a child's preference for his or her custodial residence vary by state. In some states, custody may be modified at any time. Under Tennessee statute, the court shall consider the reasonable preference of the child over the age of 12. Third parties may be able to obtain custody if both parents are unable or unwilling to care for the child. www.NationalFamilySolutions.com Most states do not specify an age at which a child can choose which parent he or she lives with after a divorce. However, as your child gets older and more mature, courts have the discretion to ask them to choose who they prefer to live with. The only reason this wouldn’t apply is if there’s a Court Order stating that a child must remain with a certain parent until a certain time. A parenting plan generally recognizes the following: In many cases, a client who is seeking custody, whether the client is a biological parent, adoptive parent, grandparent, or other interested person, wants to know if the child can tell the judge who they want to live with or at what age the child can decide whether or not they want to live with, or visit, the other party seeking custody. It is up to individual parents to decide at what age they allow the child to make the decision about where they wish to live. Q. I hope you can help. On a fairly regular basis I am asked by a divorced parent how old their child must be before they can choose which parent they want to live with. When the mother of the child died he lost all touch with reality and the aunt of the child took custody he has since came back to reality and wants nothing more than to have his child back how can he get the child back from the aunt But, there are hardly sufficient details for me to provide you with constructive guidance in that area. If there is a custody order in place, that order would need to be modified. Legal custody refers to a parent’s right to help make important decisions on behalf of the child, including medical, educational, cultural, and religious matters. Note: If you are a noncustodial parent, the term “qualifying child” for head of household There are two kinds of custody in Oklahoma: physical and legal. Cloudflare Ray ID: 603ac896abfc0564 Though it is rare, the court will hear from a child under 7 years, and a child as young as 5 or 6 years of age may be heard. Even if a child is mature and states a reasonable preference, the judge doesn’t have to follow that preference. In this article, we will discuss a child's preference in custody, how a child chooses with which parent to live and when the child can make such a choice. Can a child of 13 and wants to live with aunt and uncle, not father decide this in nevada My nephew wants to live in Ca. Your IP: 64.34.217.23 Performance & security by Cloudflare, Please complete the security check to access. You have to deal with parents who don’t get along, and you are often sent back and forth between each parent. Being a child of parents that are divorced or separated is tough. It is important to look at the overall picture before making any decisions. Yes, it is possible. Sometimes, a child may want to live with a parent because they are perceived to be more lenient. You are not able to just "choose" who you want to live with, however your grandparents or aunt could petition for custody, or legal guardianship of you. California Family Code 3042, subsections (a) through (d) specifically state: You may need to download version 2.0 now from the Chrome Web Store. If you are at an office or shared network, you can ask the network administrator to run a scan across the network looking for misconfigured or infected devices. For obvious reasons, you should first consider an adult with whom the child already has a close relationship—a stepparent, grandparent, aunt or uncle, older sibling, babysitter, close friend of the family or even neighbor. • Once a child reaches the age of 16, he/she is legally allowed to choose which parent to live with. This also depends on whether there is a custody order. In some States, a child can choose which parent to live with at age 14. The two children wanted to live with their aunt, rather than their mother. A child's preference in custody and Family Code 3042. You should contact an attorney who specializes in that area. A grandparent may do so if the child’s mother or father is deceased, if the child’s parents were divorced in Indiana, or if the child was born out of wedlock. Brothers or sisters of the parents have no inherent custody rights regarding their nieces or nephews. • 2 The term “qualifying child” is covered in Tab C, Dependents. Legal Child Custody Find Alternative & Affordable Help for Family Law Problems BBB Accred. When can my child decide which parent to live with? Another way to prevent getting this page in the future is to use Privacy Pass. There may have a couple options. While an older child’s preference can be taken into consideration, changing the parenting time arrangements may or may not be in their best interest. Divorces can be ugly, and the division of parenting rights and responsibilities can be even uglier. Footnotes 1 A person can’t qualify more than one taxpayer to use the head of household filing status for the year. If your child is very young, courts will not ask your child for their preference on who they want to live with. Completing the CAPTCHA proves you are a human and gives you temporary access to the web property. Aunts and uncles are in the same position as grandparents when it comes to custody rights. If you are on a personal connection, like at home, you can run an anti-virus scan on your device to make sure it is not infected with malware. Many parents tell me their child … A child’s preference can also result in someone other than the parent receiving custody. Currently, there is no specific age where the Court will consider the wishes of a child in deciding custody matters. • Child custody laws vary widely across the states. Completing the CAPTCHA proves you are a human and gives you temporary access to the web property. A grandparent’s visitation rights survive the adoption of a child by a stepparent or by the child’s grandparent, sibling, aunt, uncle, niece, or nephew. Family Code Section 3042 requires the Court to consider and give due weight to a child’s preference regarding custody if the child is of sufficient age and … The court may choose to hear the preference of a child … My sister left the father of her children a couple of years ago and married another man. Aunt and uncle would probably have to show up in court, or in CPS or Child Welfare office. Depends what State you live in. Her oldest child, my niece, is having an awful time as her step father will not accept her and seems to want to do nothing but make her life a misery and it is ruining her self confidence. • The aunt would have to prove that the child will sustain substantial harm if the child continues to live with the mother in order to get custody. the custodial parent has died, and the surviving parent is unfit or unwilling to take custody of the child; the child has been living with a third-party individual for a long period of time, or; both parents have voluntarily relinquished their rights to the child. However, the judge may choose to interview the child outside the presence of the parents. Q: How can the only living parent get custody of his child back. Another way to prevent getting this page in the future is to use Privacy Pass. The child's maturity, and whether the child can tell the truth from fiction will guide the decision whether a child may be heard. In another case, a 17 year-old girl stated that she wanted to stay with her aunt and uncle (with whom she had lived since she was five years old). If your parents were to approve of your move, your aunt & uncle would need to file for a guardianship for the time period that you would live with them. If a child is a qualifying child of both the parents, generally, only one parent can claim the child as a qualifying child for all of the child-related tax benefits: EITC, dependency exemption, child tax credit, head of household filing status, credit for child and dependent care expenses, and the exclusion for dependent care benefits. Performance & security by Cloudflare, Please complete the security check to access. Related Article: Options If Denied Parenting Time Over Owed Child Support. But that just makes a bad situation. Your IP: 204.48.26.148 The court decided that the children’s age, along with their emotional immaturity meant that their preference should not be a factor in the custody decision. Please enable Cookies and reload the page. At what age can a child decide where they want to live? Whomever you choose, be sure that person is mature, good-hearted and willing and able to assume the responsibility. If you are at an office or shared network, you can ask the network administrator to run a scan across the network looking for misconfigured or infected devices. By doing this they would be able to enroll you in school and take care of your healthcare needs etc. During the course of these proceedings, evidence will be presented as to who should be your legal guardian. If there is no custody order in place, then the child can live with the non-custodial parent without having to involve the court. 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