Legal Question in Family Law in Missouri

Re: child testifing

There is no "magic age." Missouri's custody statute mentions the preference of the child as one of the factors a court is to consider in making a custody determination.

As a general matter, the older the child, the more weight will be given to the child's preference for custodian. A child's wishes is only ONE factor, however. The paramount factor is what arrangement will serve the "best interests of the child," regardless of what the child wants. As a practical matter, when a child reaches a certain age it is hard to overcome the child's preference (who can control a strong-willed 16-year-old?), but what the child wants is not controlling as far as the court is concerned.

Courts are generally reluctant to inquire as to the child's preference (unless pushed to do so by one side or the other), as this has the undesirable effect of putting the child in the middle, so to speak. Generally the child will not "testify" about this preference, but may be interviewed in chambers by the judge and with the attorneys present.

Note also that it is not uncommon for the younger child to tell each of the parents that he/she wants to live with them; most children's secret wish is that their parents would remarry so they could live with both as a single family again.