Can your child testify in court?

Generally the courts and attorneys prefer to avoid having children testify in court, often placing them in a tenious position of choosing between their parents and causing further pain in the family and for the children.

With that in mind there are situations where a child’s preference and voice need to be heard in court.  In reaching that goal there are often various options that can be implemented by the court and by parents to attempt to do so, such as the following:

• Minor’s counsel (an attorney that represents the minor children to assist in having their voice heard in court)
• Child Custody Evaluator pursuant to California Evidence Code s730 (a court approved counselor that will talk with all parties involved including the children and provide a report with a recommendation to the court)
• Mediator
• Minor’s testimony in court

With these various options there are pros and cons to each which must be discussed with an attorney and assessed for your own personal situation.

As far at the minor child testifying the California Family Code s3042 specifically dillenates that minor children as young as 14 years old shall be permitted to provide their preference to the court as to custody and visitation.  With that, FC s3042 does not prohibit any minor’s younger than 14 from being permitted to provide their preference and merely requires an analysis that the minor child is “of sufficient age and capacity to reason so as to form an intelligent preference”.

Depending on the situation, child’s maturity, and present issues it is possible for the child to testify when younger than 14 years old.  There is case law to support minor child testimony as young as 10 years old.

If you are seeking to have your child testify in court regarding their preferences it is imperative that you consult an attorney to dissus your situation and rights as it is a considerably legally driven argument that will need to be made by the court.  This analysis and explanation is a cursory one and is only meant to provide basic information, every case is different with specific facts that need to be analyzed in reaching a legal conclusion.

** This blog, and the individual posts on the blog, are for informational purposes only, do not provide a substitute for engaging legal counsel, and do not constitute legal advice or solicitation for legal services.  Any legal advice should be tailored to specific clients and their specific needs.  No attorney-client relationship is created by any use of this website.  You should not rely on any information in this blog.**