If there is a custody and child support order in place that identifies primary residence and visitation rights, can a child decide they don't want to live with one parent or the other or can one parent allow the child not to follow mandated visitation?
by 
Anonymous
ANSWERS: 1
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While most people will tell you that children can not make this decision, I can tell you that in some states and jurisdictions, they can. It depends on the judges in your jurisdiction, the age of the child, how custody was decided, and other factors. In our case, the children were placed with me as their sole custodial parent. However, the judge decided custody based on what the children's desires were. Even though my youngest was 9 years old at the time, my 9 year old was able to make this decision because his four older siblings were, thereby declaring that the children were fit and able to make a decision at that young of an age to decide where they wanted to live. Unless there had been some clear safety issue with the children living there, ie, abuse, the children could move back and forth at their whim. As wrong as this is, it happens. Also, in the same jurisdiction, the judges will not make a child over the age of 14 to do the same regardless of how custody was decided.
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