At What Age Can a Child Have Say-So in Visitation

My question involves a child custody case from the State of: Pennsylvania

We live in PA (lived in AZ until 2006). Custody order is PA. Current visitation order states 6-weeks summer, split Christmas, every Easter, & alternate Thanksgiving based on Christmas schedule.

Father has minimal contact (phone, text or otherwise) with daughter outside of court ordered visit.

14yo daughter does not want to stay full 6week visit with father in AZ for future years. This long visit has been in place for multiple years. She "breaks down" at week 4 due to stressors in the environment (His girlfriend & their 2 young children 8 & 3). She has been asking for shorter visits since 2007 but I have been ensuring that she is there for the duration of visit, even with emotional breakdowns almost daily past week 4.

At what point does her emotional well-being come into play? At what age can she have a say-so in any modifications?

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Quoting AZtoPA

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At what point does her emotional well-being come into play? At what age can she have a say-so in any modifications?

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18.

If you want modifications, go to court.

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Quoting adjusterjack

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18.

If you want modifications, go to court.

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That's not entirely correct...there are judges that will take a teenager's wishes into consideration regarding length of visitation. They don't get to choose whether or not to visit at all, but their wishes may get some consideration regarding the length of visits.

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Quoting llworking

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That's not entirely correct...there are judges that will take a teenager's wishes into consideration

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Were do we find judges?

In court.

So the answer is still: Go to court.:friendly_wink:

The Arizona best interest factors are found at 23 Pa. C.S.A. § 5328, and include "The well-reasoned preference of the child, based on the child's maturity and judgment". That type of provision is pretty typical for a state's custody laws. Despite such provisions, for a number of reasons, parents often choose not to bring the children into the litigation.

The child's preference is almost never going to be, of itself, grounds to revisit an existing custody order. It sounds like you have additional allegations, though, that you intend to use should the matter go back to court.

If you do not seek modification of the order, the present order will remain binding upon you.

The age at which a child's wishes are binding is 18.

The age at which a judge will consider to the child's non-binding preference is up to the judge.

To get all technical and stuff.... If child custody proceedings are before a court and the child is competent to state a preference, and evidence of preference is submitted to the court, the court does not get to decide whether or not to consider the evidence - but the judge does get to decide how much weight to give to the preference in its best interest analysis.

Thank you for saying it much better than I did, Mr. K.

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Quoting Mr. Knowitall

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To get all technical and stuff.... If child custody proceedings are before a court and the child is competent to state a preference, and evidence of preference is submitted to the court, the court does not get to decide whether or not to consider the evidence - but the judge does get to decide how much weight to give to the preference in its best interest analysis.

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Again, well said.