In Missouri, a child does not have the final say in choosing which parent to live with after a divorce. However, the court may consider the child’s preference, especially as they get older. Missouri does not set a specific age for this, but the more mature the child, the more the court will listen to their opinion.
How Much Does a Child’s Preference Matter?
The court looks at many factors when deciding custody, and a child’s choice is just one of them. Judges also consider the child’s maturity, reasons for their preference, and whether a parent may be influencing the child. The main goal is to do what’s best for the child’s well-being, even if that does not match the child’s choice.
Seek Legal Help for Custody Issues
If you are dealing with a custody case in Missouri, Kranitz, Sadoun & Carpenter, PC can help. Our experienced attorneys can guide you through the process and make sure your child’s best interests are protected. Contact us today for a consultation.
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ช๐ค๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ข ๐ญ๐ข๐ธ๐บ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ช๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ค๐ช๐ด๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ญ๐บ ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฅ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ต๐ช๐ด๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ด. ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ข๐ญ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐๐ช๐ด๐ด๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ช ๐ญ๐ข๐ธ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ญ๐ฆ๐จ๐ข๐ญ ๐ข๐ฅ๐ท๐ช๐ค๐ฆ. ๐๐ฐ๐ณ ๐จ๐ถ๐ช๐ฅ๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ด๐ช๐ต๐ถ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ, ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ข ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ข๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ช๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ต๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐บ.