Can My Minor Son Decide To End Visitation

I live in Florida and I have been divorced for over 12 years. My son is now 13 and no longer wants to visit with his father who is a repeat criminal. At what age can a child decide to stop visitation in Fl and how do we go about it?

18 and there would be no need to do anything as presumably the child custody issue would then be moot.

If you want to modify the court ordered visitation, then YOU need to file for a modification in court and try to explain to them why you believe the father should not be allowed to see his child.

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Quoting jk

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18 and there would be no need to do anything as presumably the child custody issue would then be moot.

If you want to modify the court ordered visitation, then YOU need to file for a modification in court and try to explain to them why you believe the father should not be allowed to see his child.

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Thank you for your response. At age 13, can my son testify to the judge his feelings or does he have to be older.

I would think a judge would want the input from a child but you need to be sure it is his mind, not yours that is being expressed. Using the child as a pawn (not suggesting you are) would not be looked at kindly by the courts and could backfire on one attempting to do so.

In all reality though, a child of that age should not and therefore would not be able to be overly specific of his fathers "indescretions" so I would also be careful about him testifying to the courts about anything so specific it looks as if you are poisoning the childs mind.

The following is my opinion.....
You cant force a child to see his father. Just like you ( or the courts ) can't force a father to see his child.

actually, you can force a child to see his father.

What grounds (other child's wishes) will you use to change visitation?

My son spends every other weekend with his father and usually Wed's after school. I have done everything to try and foster a good relationship for the two, but unfortunately the father is just such a loser and spends the time with other people during his time. He drops our son off at one of his relatives home for hours or days at a time. The father does not have a driver's license and continues to drive. He has been arrested twice in the past 6 months for Reckless driving and Driving without a license. Nothing happened to him for the later, but he was jailed for 20 days for the first incident. He's had DUI's and other criminal arrests. He tells our son all about his misadventures and brags about how he gets away with everything. He spends his visit time drinking, partying and playing video games with his loser friends and our son. He has no permanent home and sleeps where ever someone lets him. He rarely attends any games our son plays on the weekends and when it is his weekend, such as today, he doesn't take him to the game. He says "I have better things to do with my time than to go to some gay soccer game" He rarely pays child support and is never involved in the school events.

My current husband and I cover all the tuition and expenses for the school (private Christian), soccer and vacations etc... We both work: I am a critical care nurse and my husband is a carpenter. We have a son together who is now 6. We try to give our children every opportunity to have a good life. Unfortunately, my 13 yr old is suffering a life of negative exposure and criticism whenever he is with his father. When I speak with him on the phone, his father screams in the back ground foul remarks toward me and tell our son, "Tell your mother she's a f...ing b..ch, and she can go to hell.

He is an alcoholic and drug user, and does these things in front of our son. I only know all this because my son tells me. When I was married to him he was not this way, maybe in the beginning stages, but I did not see it at the time. He could not handle having a child and he was extremely abusive to me physically and mentally, so I left. He has spiraled out of control in the last year or so and my son is showing the effects. We have tried to get the police involved, but as a result had all the tires on our 3 vehicles slashed in our driveway. We both have no enemies and know it was him, as he has done it many times before.

Growing up without my father when I was a child, I know how important it is to have a father, but is this influence more beneficial than having an absent parent? I have spent thousands of dollars in lawyers and nothing seems to change as our family Judge is a friend of the fathers family. He knows most of the judges which is why is never suffers any consequences for his criminal actions.

All these years I have told my son we just need to pray for your father and I try to talk with him about the nature of the disease of alcoholism. We have a good support system, but my son lately has expressed a real fear about going with his father and protest to me only, as he is afraid of his dad. I do not know what to do. If anyone has any suggestions, I would greatly welcome them. Thank you all for your help....

You will need to gfile for a modification of the visitation order. The Judge will most likely hear your son's testimony, but will make a decision based on what is in your son's best interests.

What kind of documentation or witnesses do you have in addition to your son's testimony? The more you have, the more likely it is that the Judge might reduce visitation, but don't expect that visits will be cut out altogether.

You should get a consult with a local attorney to see what your particular Judge's normal rulings are in this type of situation. You can get a low cost consult by calling the FL Bar Lawyer Referall Service at 1-800-342-8011.

Xena, thank you for your reply: We have looked for an attorney, most want $3000.00-5000.00 minimum as a retainer fee before they will do anything on our behalf. We are presently saving for the money. We have very little hard evidence as most of what I know about my ex is from my son. I do have copies of all his arrest affidavits and atrocious driving record, but that really doesn't prove he is a bad father. We have various witnesses who can attest to his poor parenting skills, but I am not sure if they would want to get involved as they all know how DANGEROUS he is and what he is capable of doing. I am not really interested in ceasing all visitation, only to modify it somehow to keep my son safe. My son no longer wants to go with him and begs me not to force him to go. I am just afraid of going to jail if he does not go with his father. :wallbang: Any suggestions on how to go about getting evidence???:confused: