How do I keep my family together (prepare yourselves)?

Don't some states have a law saying if a child is a certain age, they can choose where they're staying? I had a friend a few years ago who was living with her dad and stepmother and was not happy at all. Her mother lived in the same town, but for reasons I can't remember, she couldn't live with her. Then she found out about the law that said she could decide who to live with, and she brought it up, and it was true, so she moved in with her mom and lived happily ever after. So, you could look into that.