What Rights Your Kids Have About Custody And Visitation Between Their Parents

Posted on July 3, 2013 by About The Children LLC — Leave a comment

Kids Choosing For Themselves

In some cases children that are in the middle of family legal issues, and are becoming young adults, feel that they want to make the choice for themselves about where they want to live. This can be more difficult in certain states and impossible in others, it’s a good idea to know what is doable and what is not. Another aspect of family legal issues, especially those involving kids that are older, is communication. The ability to talk to everyone involved and hear out what they have to say and what they feel about the whole situation is going to make a huge difference in the entire case. There are many aspects in any family legal situation, it’s important to take everything into account before any big decisions are made. Here are some tips for parents and kids out there that want to know what they can do about custody or visitation.

Measure Twice, Cut Once. Going to court is a last resort for parents that are having issues involving custody or visitation with their children. There are steps that can be taken before the judge’s gavel comes down like a steel hammer and solidifies things into a court order. In some cases your kids’ opinion about where they want to live will be taken into account. Some states however do not recognize this until they reach a certain age; the idea being that they aren’t old enough to make sound decisions about this kind of stuff. Sometimes this is true and heightened emotions cloud the water and make it that much more difficult to make a good decision concerning which parent they want to live with. This is a sticky situation for everyone involved. Unfortunately in some scenarios children seek out the other parent due to some kind of neglect or abuse and don’t know what their rights are, this is true for the parents too. Whatever the circumstances are, knowing what your rights are and how to enforce them will help you win your case.

Can You Hear Me In The Back? If your child wants to spend more time with the other parent or simply switch up the days they want to be at their other house, talk to them about it if there are any concerns about their reasons. Obviously in some cases this isn’t really an option. It’s not unheard of for kids to actually call attorneys or advocacy groups asking what they can do about leaving their mom or dad’s house. In these situations, finding the right kind of help is what’s most important. If you’re the parent of a child that wants to come live with you because your ex is abusing or neglecting them, changing the court order you already have can be difficult if you don’t have a good reasons or these allegations of abuse and/or neglect are unfounded. If this is the path you wish to take, make sure you’re making the right choices that will directly benefit your child.

Part of being a parent is letting your children know that you support them completely. The other part of being a parent is to let your kids make a mistake every now and again so they learn a lesson or two. Teenagers crave independence and the ability to make their own decisions. Enforcing things on them that they don’t’ want only compels them to rebel more and more. Not listening to what your kids want and forcing them to stay at their mom or dad’s house is not in their best interests and can actually make things a whole lot worse. Take the time to sit them with them, like an adult, and take into account what they want, within reason, and make a decision based on that combined with your judgment and common sense.

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