You know your child’s has a preference on who they want to live with. You can tell your attorney who will let the judge know. Alternatively, you can let the judge know that your child wants to have input on the custody order.
Then, the judge has many different ways he or she can hear from your son or daughter.
The judge can hear from you on what you believe are you child’s custody preferences.
Or, the judge can assign a court mediator, at no cost to you, to talk with your child concerning their custody preference.
Or, the judge can assign a custody evaluator to talk with your child and learn your child’s custody preference.
The rule, California Rules of Court, Rule 5.250 gives the judge many options on how to learn your child’s wishes as to custody.