I have an 8 year old that hates to visit his Dad's house. He screams and cries every weekend he has to go. We have tried counseling and that worked for a while but it has started up again. Does a child have the right to refuse to go to the "other" parents’ house? And at what age can a child choose where he/she wants to live? I live in the state of Idaho.

If dad has legal visitation as part of a court's order...then at 18 he can decide not to go. Until then, it's your legal responsibility to make sure the order is obeyed, or you could face jail time for contempt of court.

If there is some concrete reason related to unsanitary conditions, unsafe conditions, criminal activity, or similar issues going on at dad's house, then the court needs to be notified right away so that there might be an emergency modification. Short of those reasons however, and in no case without a court changing any standing visitation order, he'll have to continue to abide by the visitation order.

Have the child's reasons for not wanting to go been discussed with dad?

__________________
While pointers can be helpful, ultimately the number one lesson in any legal action is: don't take legal advice from books, family, friends, co-workers, police officers, grocery clerks, web sites, or people on legal message boards. The only person who can give YOU legal advice is YOUR attorney.

http://www.aardvarc.org

I agree with aardvarc on this one. Until the court order is changed, it is your responsibility to make sure wh goes to the visitation. Have you browsed through the information in LawInfo's Free Legal Resource Center to learn more about your issue yet? See: http://www.lawinfo.com/consumer.html. You can certainly try to speak to a lawyer to determine what legal options may be available. In the meantime, you may be able to learn more on your own. Search the "Free Legal Resources" tab, or browse the Consumer Resources. Good luck.

See also: http://resources.lawinfo.com/Search....tateName:Idaho

do you let him decide wether he goes to school, what time he comes home, or what time he goes to bed? for the next 1o years, you better get him used to the idea of seeing dad, or he could eventually be seeing a lot more of dad and a lot less of you. he has no say in the matter. period.