ANSWER: The answer is NO – they cannot choose under current Ohio child custody preference laws.
Publisher’s Note: There is so much misinformation online these days that perhaps that is one of the reasons clients frequently still ask me this question. The Ohio age of election law was changed nearly 30 years ago! Here is the history about this change for those wanting to know the correct posture of that law.
The History of the Ohio Child Election Law
Prior to 1946, Ohio General Code §8033 made it mandatory that a child ten years of age or older “must” be allowed to choose which parent they preferred to live with, and the court would have to follow that choice unless the court deemed that parent “unfit.” Venable v. Venable, 445 N.E.2d 1125, 1130 (Ohio Ct. App. July 9, 1981). Even as recently as 1989, the Ohio Revised Code §3109 stated that children twelve years of age or older could choose which parent to live with.… View Full Article → “Can A Child in Ohio Pick Which Parent to Live With in a Divorce – Yes or No?”