Can a 12-year-old decide where he or she wants to live? This area of Texas Family Law is often misunderstood. Many non-lawyers, and possibly even some lawyers, think that once a child turns 12, he or she gets to decide who will be the “primary parent.” That is simply not true. Under Texas custody law, one parent or the other usually has the “exclusive right to determine the primary residence of the child” – to most people that means where the child lives. Once an custody orde