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th ei fp .c a Th e IF P -H al to n H ill s | T hu rs da y, Ja nu ar y 28 ,2 02 1 | 2 LITIGATIONlegal matters My child, who is 14 years of age, wants to come and live with me now. Can my child decide to do that? The advice offered in this column is intended for informational purposes only. Use of this column is not intended to replace or substitute any professional, financial, medical, legal, or other professional advice. Q A ASK THE PROFESSIONAL Todd C. Hein Partner Family/Divorce Lawyer Proud member of OFFICE LOCATIONS GEORGETOWN 8 Guelph Street 905 452 7400 BRAMPTON OFFICE (Main) 350 Rutherford Road S., Suite 320 905 452 7400 CALEDON EAST 15955 Airport Road, Suite 201 905 584 4545 It is often said that children do not get to make the decisions with respect to these sorts of issues. Having said that, certainly, the older a child gets, the more the child's views will be considered. There are different ways to try and determine a child's views, including a "views and preferences" report, usually conducted by a senior family lawyer or a therapist experienced in family law matters. In some situations, a more involved investigation may be undertaken, possibly involving a psychologist. Parents should never try and influence or pressure a child as to where the child is to live. Once a child reaches a certain age, e.g. 15 or 16 years, the child may well just do what they want regardless. Of course, once a child is 18, the child is an adult and can do what they decide for themselves. We do a lot of family/divorce law. We have 3 offices, including 8 Guelph Street, Georgetown, in the Lounsbury Life & Group Insurance Benefits building. We are happy to provide a free initial consultation via Zoom with the ongoing public health concern. Have a great weekend. Empowering Clients. Enriching the Community. Amid the second wave of COVID-19, Halton has started the roll out of vacci- nation programs. According to the latest data from Halton Health- care and Halton Region, more than 10,000 doses have been administered. The vaccine generally requires two separate dos- es, so the number of doses administered does not re- flect the number of people who have completed vacci- nations. To further curb the spread of the virus, the ministry of education has pushed back the reopening of in-person classes for Halton schools from the original Jan. 25 date. No time frame has been provided yet by the Ontario government on when local schools can re-open for in- class learning. As for the weekly num- ber of new cases, data from the website of Halton Public Health shows that from Jan. 15 to 21 there were 498 new infections in the region, down from 557 posted the previous week. The number of active cases stood at 416, including 36 in Halton Hills, 166 in Milton, 110 in Oakville and 104 in Burlington. As of Jan. 22, there have been 7,875 COVID-19 cases in Halton since the pan- demic started, with 7,227 marked as resolved and 151 deaths. NEWS WEEKLY ROUNDUP: VACCINATION PROGRAMS ROLL OUT IN HALTON SCAN THIS CODE TO VIEW OUR VACCINE ROLLOUT TRACKER BAMBANG SADEWO bsadewo@metroland.com