Does a teen need both parents approval to go away to a private school?

[greergarson]

When parents are divorced and have equal and joint custody of their child does a child need both parents approval in order to go away to something like a private school or college prep school? If the child does need the approval of both parents, then can the child appeal to a judge? Will the child need to hire a lawyer? What can be done? (The child in question is nearly 16 years old and wishes to spend their last two years of high school at an advanced school that would count as two years worth of college credit, but one parent will not agree to let the child go.)

 

[mightymoose]

What do you mean by "go away"?
Will this effect the regular visitation plan?

No- the child can't appeal anything. However, if the parents can't come to an agreement and need the assistance of the court they can always go back through mediation or see a judge.

There are usually stipulations in the custody agreements about the child not leaving the county or state without consent of both parents. Messing with the visitation agreement is also messy...

By "go away" I suspect these are significant issues that will have to be addressed.

 

[greergarson]

Going away to college at 16 years old

Each parent lives close together and they divide their time equally with the child. By "going away" I mean the child would be moving away from both parents homes on a semi-permanent basis in order to go to a school that is located outside the county but inside the state of residence. The child would live at a college campus but room in separate high school age dorms while taking college courses from college professors during a normal school year. He would come home during summer break and holidays. The school is for advanced engineering students. He would finish out his remaining two years of high school at this college while obtaining two years worth of college credit that he can use toward a degree in engineering (basically saving himself & his parents college tuition later). The classes for this child would be free. He would only need to pay for room and board. In fact, he is willing to pay for room and board himself.
I know the father has taken the child out of state for vacation before and I cannot imagine the father and mother making any agreements, so there must have been some legal arrangement there as far as leaving the state or county goes.
The mother and father do not take the child's welfare into consideration. They would prefer to spite one another. It is more about hurting one another or winning. According to the child, the father can be verbally abusive. The father has spent a great deal of time and money obtaining joint custody of the child. So, now that the child wants to go away to a school, the father sees this as a win for the mother. The father is not a person who can be swayed. I do know from experience that the father enjoys humiliation as a form of punishment, so what the child says about verbal abuse is likely to be true. The mother is probably worse than the father, which is probably why he was granted joint custody.
I am merely interested in helping the child and doing what is best for the child.

 

[irish223]

Each parent lives close together and they divide their time equally with the child. By "going away" I mean the child would be moving away from both parents homes on a semi-permanent basis in order to go to a school that is located outside the county but inside the state of residence. The child would live at a college campus but room in separate high school age dorms while taking college courses from college professors during a normal school year. He would come home during summer break and holidays. The school is for advanced engineering students. He would finish out his remaining two years of high school at this college while obtaining two years worth of college credit that he can use toward a degree in engineering (basically saving himself & his parents college tuition later). The classes for this child would be free. He would only need to pay for room and board. In fact, he is willing to pay for room and board himself.
I know the father has taken the child out of state for vacation before and I cannot imagine the father and mother making any agreements, so there must have been some legal arrangement there as far as leaving the state or county goes.
The mother and father do not take the child's welfare into consideration. They would prefer to spite one another. It is more about hurting one another or winning. According to the child, the father can be verbally abusive. The father has spent a great deal of time and money obtaining joint custody of the child. So, now that the child wants to go away to a school, the father sees this as a win for the mother. The father is not a person who can be swayed. I do know from experience that the father enjoys humiliation as a form of punishment, so what the child says about verbal abuse is likely to be true. The mother is probably worse than the father, which is probably why he was granted joint custody.
I am merely interested in helping the child and doing what is best for the child.

As stated, this is an issue for the parents to iron out in court. Neither parent can make the decision about this without the other's approval. One of them will have to ask the court to decide if they can't agree. BTW, who are you in all this? Also, btw, the same scenario was posted on another board... with the same answers.