15 Year Old In Custody Court

[CDavidNeely]

My sons grandmother and I have custody court today. I am applying for an amendment to our shared custody agreement. She is seriously ill but won't agree to having my son live with me now. The living conditions with his grandmother are appalling. He has been living with me for the last 5 months but he lived with her most of the time before that. I have photo and video documentation of the living conditions and a record of how much time she has been hospitalized in the last 6 months.

He is concerned about testifying in court. The question I need answered is this.

Will he be required or requested to testify in open court and be a witness to our arguments or will the judge talk to him separately? He is very nervous and doesn't want to make his grandmother upset.

Thank you,
C. David Neely

 

[mightymoose]

A lot of times these issues can be settled without getting all the way to a judge. Have you been through mediation over this already?

Also... if you have already had your son for the last 5 months you can probably just keep him with you at this point- so long as you have a reason that you can justify later and you are actively seeking a change in the orders. You won't get busted for anything unless it can be shown you are keeping the boy from a parent deliberately... just for the sake of doing so.

 

[Duranie]

I would ask that the child talk to the judge privately.