Hello- my husband has joint custody of my stepdaughter, and her mother has primary custody. The child has always lived with her mother in Rockingham county. We live in Union county. Recently, our daughter (14) has told us she wants to live with us full time and go to school here next year. Her mother may not handle this well, and our daughter wants us to wait until the summer when she comes here for the summer to tell her mother so that she can escape the guilt and wrath that her mother may put on her for this decision. My concern is that if her mom wants to take this to court, 2 months may not allow time for this to be decided and our daughter start school here in August. I am trying to decide what we need to do and for what we need to be prepared? I am unfamiliar with how to best handle this situation, and I don’t know if your firm works Rockingham county… Can you please offer some advice and insight? Can our daughter decide at 14 where she wants to live and keep this out of court?
We do not practice in either Rockingham or Union county. As such, I can’t speak to how long it would take to get heard after your file for custody. In Wake County it can take four to six months to get a court date, but in smaller counties it could take less time to be reached. Regardless, I wouldn’t wait until the last minute to file for custody; I would go ahed and get the process started now so that you can have a court order in hand by the time the school year starts.