In the state of Texas, the opinions of a child of divorce go unnoticed until the age of eighteen. When a couple with children files for divorce, the children in the family are forced into the middle of a controversial situation. Of course, the child will have a preference on which parent should raise them, but their thoughts are virtually worthless. After a couple's divorce becomes official, each parent must go to court for a judge to decide their terms of custody. The judge then listens to each parent speak about why they deserve custody of their offspring. The state government of Texas has decided to set the legal age of child decision at eighteen years old. Evolving over the past decade, the way states handle custody issues is a controversial topic.
The custody order in Texas requires a child to be a legal adult (age eighteen) to make their own decisions based on their parents. In order to prevent children from a lack of personal choice, the age in which a child can choose which parent he/she will live with should be lowered to sixteen years old. Although the Texas Family Code requires a judge to interview a child over twelve years old to determine the child's preferences on parenting, the judge is not required to respect the opinion in any fashion (When a Child Can Choose). This does not make sense because a child of twelve years old that has lived with his/her parents knows more about which parent is better suited for the role of parenting than a random judge. Since the judge only knows the parents for up to a month before deciding the family's fate, it is ridiculous to assume that the twelve-year-old knows less about their parents than the judge would. The Texas Family Code needs to have more specific standards, such as respecting the opinions of children, no matter their age, and allowing these children to legally decide on their own when they turn sixteen. The age of eighteen is too long of a time for a child to suffer with a parent they do not wish to live with.