TRANSCRIPT:
Well, the general answer is no, kids don't get to decide where they're going to live when their parents are going through a divorce. However, they do have input into that decision. When a court appoints a guardian ad litem to do an investigation, one of the first things that the guardian ad litem is going to do is talk to the children and get an idea what their thoughts are on what's going on in the family dynamic, and where they may want to live and why. And that why's going to be the most important thing, really, because if a child is more mature, which usually comes with age but not always, if a child's more mature and is able to clearly articulate his or her desires as to why he or she wants to live with a particular parent, that's likely to carry more weight with the guardian ad litem and then the judge. The guardian ad litem actually has a duty to tell the judge what the children want, which is an interesting and unique aspect in our statutes.
So, even though the judge isn't bound by those requests and isn't bound to do what your kids want, the judge will hear in your case what it is that your children want. And again, the more articulate that the children are, the more mature they are, the more heavily that will weigh in the judge's decision-making when it comes time to decide custody and placement in your case.
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