My husband and his ex have 50/50 joint legal and physical custody. Over the past 4 years, the minor child, her brother (not husbands child) and her mother lived with her grandparents and has had and still has to share a room with her mom. The son has had his own room the entire time they have lived with the grandparents. He leaves for college in July and it was brought to our attention that the minor child will still not get her own bedroom (she is 15). Her mother and her grandmother have told her that her brother needs to have a room to come home to when he visits. Now mind you, all the while she was sharing a room with her mom, there was an empty room. So now her brother is leaving for college and she still does not get to have her own room. Can the custody order be modified for this reason or will a judge not care that she is 15 and has to share a room with her mom?
Based on what you’ve provided and assuming that custody was determined in a court order, it is not likely that the custody order could be modified for that reason alone.
A custody order can only be modified when there is a substantial change in circumstances affecting the child’s wellbeing. Since the child here has shared a room for four years, the child still not having her own room will likely not qualify as a substantial change in circumstances.
Thanks! Just a shame that she cant have her own room and there are available rooms to her. She always complains about it when she’s at our house!