Can a 17 year old pick which parent he wants to live with?

Children can’t choose where to live until they are 18 years old. Each case is different, and the judge will decide how much weight to give to the child’s preference using broad discretion. Courts will generally give more value to older children’s opinions than those of younger children.

Can a 17 year old choose to live with a sibling?

In order to legally gain custody of a sibling you will need to petition the court to become their guardian. While state law may vary, generally guardians must be over age 18 or legally emancipated and petitioning for guardianship of a sibling under age 18 or otherwise legally dependent.

Can you live with someone else at 17?

You can legally live with someone else if your parents agree to it or a court orders it. Doing it any other way is called “running away”. Your pasrents are responsible and have authority unless a court removes that. If the age of consent in your state is 17, you might go to a state where it is 16, for example.

Can a 17 year old make his own decisions?

A child is ready to make their own decisions at 18 years old in most states, from a legal perspective. Developmentally, a parent should let their child make age-appropriate decisions as they demonstrate capacity, judgment, and maturity. Legally, you are responsible for your child until they are 18 years old.

At what age can a child decide who they want to live with?

In general, young children should not be given the choice of where they want to live. This can even lead to a child regretting their decision or feeling guilty. Depending on a number of relevant factors, including the child’s maturity level, a child’s preference becomes more important by about age 12 to 13.

Can a 16 year old decide who to live with?

However, a child is not legally entitled to choose who to live with until the age of 16. Therefore it usually falls to the parents to decide who is going to be the ‘primary care-giver’ (meaning the person the child lives with). For some families the decision will be clear.

Can a child decide where they want to live?

You can allow your child to make this decision for themselves. This is your choice as a parent; there’s no set age that determines when a child is allowed to say where he/she wants to live. However, a child is not legally entitled to choose who to live with until the age of 16.

What age can a child choose which parent to live with?

There is no magical age in which a child can choose which parent to live with. The answer can be complicated and is often “situation specific”, i.e., every family is different and thus custody will depend on the situation of that particular family.

Can a 16 year old decide where to live in Ontario?

But as a child gets closer to the age of majority, which is 18 years old in Ontario, they have more say about where and with whom they live. And it is rare for a court to make an order about decision-making responsibility and parenting time about for a child who is 16 years old or older.