Legal Question in Family Law in Virginia

Re: Age a child can choose.

The courts start listening to kids at about age 12, and by 14 or 15 they can pretty much decide where they want to live, unless the parent they want to live with is a bad actor.

To get the ball rolling you need to petition the court which originally set up the custody and visitation rights (the court that granted the divorce) or petition the Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court in the location where the children spend the most time.

Re: Age a child can choose.

If one were to rely only upon the published appellate opinions, the answer would be that the child's desire begins to carry some weight at about age twelve. However, in actual courtroom practice you might find a particular trial judge giving some bit of weight to the desire of a child as young as eight, especially in very close cases. In that setting, it also depends upon the apparant maturity of a particular child.