Putting Your Child’s Best Interests First
Video Transcript: Can a child choose which parent they live with? Hi, my name is Jason Sorensen. I’m a Tulsa lawyer here at Wirth Law Office, and today we’re going to be talking about whether children can choose which parent they live with after a divorce.
So in a custody or visitation action, a child can express a preference with which parent they live, and even how much time they spend with each parent, but the court really has to decide if it’s even in the best interest of the child, whether they have a preference or not.
However, there is a rebuttable presumption that a child who’s at least 12 is of a sufficient age to have that preference, but just because they’re 12 or just because they have a preference doesn’t make the court bound to do whatever that child wishes.
It really just becomes a factor in determining what is in the best interest of the child. So it’s a positive factor that can be used to show that the child’s better off living with mom or dad if that’s really what the child wants, and that can be used for modifications as well.
So if you’re making a change to your court order and it’s based on the wishes of the child, that’s something that the court can view in making that determination about whether there’s been a change in the best interest of the child. This is just general information.
If you want more information about your case specifically, or you’re making a modification to your court order, or going through a divorce and your child wants to live with you, you can give us a call at makelaweasy.com to speak with an Oklahoma child custody attorney, and we can talk to you more about that.
