A common misconception in Florida family law is that children can simply choose which parent they want to live with once they reach a certain age. In reality, that is not how the law works. Florida courts are required to evaluate more than twenty statutory factors when creating or modifying a parenting plan. These factors focus on the child’s best interests, from each parent’s ability to put the child’s needs ahead of their own, to the substance abuse environment in each home, to the extent to which each parent has to rely on third parties to assist them with their parental duties.
While a child’s reasonable preference is one of those factors, it is only a small piece of a much larger picture. It is never treated as determinative.
In fact, family court judges strongly dislike having children testify in open court. Testifying places an enormous emotional burden on a child and risks damaging the parent child relationship. As a result, unless a Guardian ad Litem is appointed to independently investigate and advocate for the child’s best interests, the child’s preference may never be presented to the court at all.
