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Texas Law - Does the Court Listen to the Children? The advantage of a court listening to a child's preference is that the child may be better off staying with the parent he or she prefers. Also, the child may have a valuable perspective to add. The disadvantage is that it could lead the parents to start coaching or bribing the child, or bad-mouthing the other parent, to the child's detriment. Texas provides by statute that the choice of a child age 12 or over is to be given great weight in the selection of the custodial parent. At a parent's request, the judge must interview a child over the age of 12 alone in the judge's office. At a party's request the judge may interview a child under the age of 12. The judge will decide whether a party's attorney or the attorney for the child will be there at the interview. If the child is 12 or older, the court may (and sometimes must) have the interview recorded, and the recording then becomes available to either party. Section 153.008 Cases: Chandler (1996) 914 SW2d 252 (court listened to daughter and awarded custody to father, where mother lived in small space, had two step-children and a new daughter, mother interfered with father's visitation. Father, on the other hand, had completed nursing school and arranged for the girl to have her own room. Father showed no venom toward mother. Daughter had pleaded to be with father.)
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