Opinion ID: 2463838
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The children's preference

Text: The superior court discounted the children's preference to live with Bill. According to the custody investigator, both children expressed strongly and repeatedly that they wished to live with their father for the bulk of the year. And Bill testified that the children voluntarily call him nearly every day. But the superior court found that, at ages eleven and ten, the children did not have sufficient age or capacity to express a preference. Alaska Statute 25.24.150(c)(3) provides that a child's preference is to be considered if the child is of sufficient age and capacity to form a preference. We conclude that the superior court's finding that the boys lacked the age and capacity to form a preference was not clearly erroneous. But, of course, as the boys get older, the trial court will be more inclined to respect their preference. [9]