It all comes down to who the LEGAL guardian is. Ask a judge if your not sure
lemon juice
If the father is not living with the child and has some income other than public assistance, yes.
Generally, custody orders end at age eighteen and the child can choose where she wants to live.
See related link
No. The biological father have rights. Unless the court find him unfit to have custody then there might be a chance.
If the son wants to I believe he can. In my state (Georgia) the child can choose who he/she wants to live with at the age of 14.
My granddaughter wants to live with her mother she is soon to be 17 and her father has custody and dose not want her to leave what recourse dose my granddaughter have ?
Depending on the state, and if the father is secure and responsible enough to support the boy, he should be able to choose which parent he lives with.
What I would suggest is to not FORCE him to pay, but at least TRY to TALK HIM INTO IT.
Losangles
Do the children have his name on their birth certificate? If so he can do what he wants, but they still have that name. He has to live with it.
The only way would be to do a personal agreement between the mother & father, ideally having it filed with the court. However, at any time, either parent can utilize Child Support without the other parent's consent. If the Mother spends more time with the child than the Father, she is most likely entitled to child support.