A child interview is a court-authorized conversation with a child about their experiences, preferences, and wellbeing in a family law case. Arizona courts can interview a child to determine their wishes and relevant information about their adjustment to each home. This is very rare. Any communication from the child is often best received from their therapist who is well educated in the trauma based therapy required in such cases.

Child interviews must be handled carefully to avoid pressure, coaching, and emotional harm. Courts often interview children in chambers without the parents present. The manner in which a child is interviewed affects the reliability and weight of what they share. This is rare. We have not seen it done in thousands of cases in 19 years.

Under the Alec and Lydia Act the child's stated preference to maintain or increase contact with the abusive parent is expressly irrelevant to the domestic violence analysis. A child's expressed preference may still be relevant to other aspects of the best-interests determination if they are older teenagers.