A child's stated preference is the child's expressed wish about parenting arrangements when the child is of suitable age and maturity to form and express a preference. Arizona courts consider the child's preference as one factor in the best-interests analysis. It is usually reserved for older teenagers.

There is no specific age at which a child's preference becomes controlling. The court assesses the child's maturity, the basis for the preference, whether the preference appears to be independently formed or influenced by a parent, and how the preference relates to all other best-interests factors.

Under the Alec and Lydia Act the child's stated preference to maintain or increase contact with an abusive parent is expressly irrelevant to the domestic violence analysis.