At what age does a child have a say about where he wants to reside

Q:  at 14 does the child have a say on whom he prefers to reside with?


A:  David's Answer:  While the child always "has a say," your question may be more of "when does it become a very strong factor with the Court?" The answer is probably 14 as a general rule. The reason is that custody law informally borrows from adoption law, in which a child gets to consent or withhold his/her consent to an adoption at age 14. As such - again as a general rule - if a 14yo says "I wanna live with Dad," it's highly likely the Judge will go along with that preference. -- David Bliven, Bronx Child Custody attorney (www.blivenlaw.net)