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Aside from human rights, at what age does a child have the right to decide if he/she can choose to visit a parent?
My son, aged 12 has decided he has a right to choose not to see me. The court order states my children should visit me every other weekend. My ex-wife has strongly influenced his decision for the purpose of extracting more money from me. I really don't know what to do next as I don't wish to upset him, but naturally want to see him.
Thank you in advance.
I'm not 100% but I think it is age 12
Maybe someone else knows for sure
Generally speaking once a child is around 12/13 their wishes do carry more weight. However if the mother is alienating him then you could have a case to take it back to court....especially if you have had regular contact for a long period of time. It's up to the resident parent to encourage and facilitate contact with the non resident parent.
It might help to try mediation, it might be a useful platform to get your point across and to get her to agree to make him available to you.
As you have a contact order from the court then you could apply for enforcement.
Just a thought - if it's a way of your ex extracting more money, how much are you talking about? If it's a relatively modest amount, it might be worth paying it for a couple of months to see if your son miraculously wants to see you again (all the time, keeping a thorough diary) - assuming he does, you can reduce the payment and then you have evidence that it's the mother applying pressure purely for financial gain. For the amount you have to pay, it might speed up the legal process.
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