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Can I Record My Child’s Wishes?

One may ask, “Can I record my child’s wishes?”  The answer is no.  Ohio Revised Code 3109.04 (R.C. 3109.04) specifically prohibits the court from considering such evidence:

“No person shall obtain or attempt to obtain from a child a written or recorded statement or affidavit setting forth the child’s wishes and concerns regarding the allocation of parental rights and responsibilities concerning the child.  No court, in determining the child’s best interest for purposes of making its allocation of the parental rights and responsibilities for the care of the child or for purposes of resolving any issues related to the making of that allocation, shall accept or consider a written or recorded statement or affidavit that purports to set forth the child’s wishes and concerns regarding those matters.”

Throughout the Ohio Revised Code and within the practices of the domestic relations courts and juvenile courts, is the general rule that the child should not be put in the middle of a custody battle.  Certainly, the child should not be put on the spot and have their words recorded on video.  Instead, this should be left to the professionals, such as a guardian ad litem or with an in-camera interview with the judge or magistrate.  Besides, the court may suspect that the child may be following a script, rather than expressing his or her true wishes in such a recording.

Take a look at some of my articles, where I talk at length about these words and how they relate to divorce, dissolution, and child custody: do I have to file anything before moving with my child in Ohio, grandparents have rights in Ohio, how much is too little child support in Ohio, what to do when you lose custody of your child in Ohio, how child custody is decided in Ohio, and things that change Ohio child support.

Attorney Gigiano is a Wadsworth Child Custody Attorney in Medina County, Wooster Child Custody Attorney near Orrville, and Akron Child Custody Attorney near Barberton.  Attorney Gigiano’s office is located in Wadsworth, Ohio, and he has litigated child custody issues in the domestic relations courts and juvenile courts in Medina County, Wayne County, Summit County, Holmes County, and Cuyahoga County.  Attorney Gigiano’s aggressive representation has earned him many positive reviews on a number of sites.  If you have questions about this or other questions you  need answered by a Medina County family law attorney in Wadsworth, please call Attorney Daniel F. Gigiano at 330-336-3330.