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No overnight guests advice PLEASE

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Arkansas Dad

Junior Member
I live in Arkansas and have divorced my ex-wife a few months ago on grounds of adultery. Because of the grounds for divorce it was automatically entered into the divorce decree that there shall be no overnight guests of the opposite sex unless related by either blood or marriage while the children are present. We have joint custody, however I have residential custody of my children.

Early on, my ex appeared to follow this court order without question sending her live-in boyfriend away when the kids stayed with her. He was at that time unemployed. Now he has no other place to go and she believes that since he works from 3:00pm to 1:00am or from 5:00pm till 5:00am that this qualifies as him not being an overnight guest. He does go home from work and sleep in a bed shared with my ex so wouldn’t this technically be classified as his overnight hours? Can someone please give me some guidance on this. Are there legal guidelines on what hours he must be away in order to comply with the court order?
 


Isis1

Senior Member
I live in Arkansas and have divorced my ex-wife a few months ago on grounds of adultery. Because of the grounds for divorce it was automatically entered into the divorce decree that there shall be no overnight guests of the opposite sex unless related by either blood or marriage while the children are present. We have joint custody, however I have residential custody of my children.

Early on, my ex appeared to follow this court order without question sending her live-in boyfriend away when the kids stayed with her. He was at that time unemployed. Now he has no other place to go and she believes that since he works from 3:00pm to 1:00am or from 5:00pm till 5:00am that this qualifies as him not being an overnight guest. He does go home from work and sleep in a bed shared with my ex so wouldn’t this technically be classified as his overnight hours? Can someone please give me some guidance on this. Are there legal guidelines on what hours he must be away in order to comply with the court order?
usually, it's a 8pm or 10 pm curfew to a 6am or 8am relief. the point is, he can't be there while the children are sleeping.

you do know that some people have sex when the sun is up right? even with that order firmly in place?
 

Arkansas Dad

Junior Member
usually, it's a 8pm or 10 pm curfew to a 6am or 8am relief.
Thank You for the quick response. But, can someone point me towards a statute that outlines this? I am desperately trying to find this info because she plans on attacking this issue with me later tonight. Also I have learned that my daughter may have been asleep in the same bed as my ex and her boyfriend at the same time.
 
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LdiJ

Senior Member
Thank You for the quick response. But, can someone point me towards a statute that outlines this? I am desperately trying to find this info because she plans on attacking this issue with me later tonight. Also I have learned that my daughter may have been asleep in the same bed as my ex and her boyfriend at the same time.
Dad, please think about things carefully...

If he works from 3PM to 1AM or 5PM to 5AM the children are going to have minimal contact with him. He is going to be gone or asleep most of their awake time.

I am not saying that she isn't violating the order, but what are you going to do if she marries the guy?..then he will be related by marriage and entitled to be there.

I have seen it happen...one of the parents files for contempt because the other parent is violating the no overnight clause, and the other parent just turns around and marries their boyfriend/girlfriend, before the hearing date even happens.
 

mommyof4

Senior Member
Thank you again for your effort. Unfortunately I cannot find what I am looking for there. Using the search terms I tried, the required info does not seem to exist.
I have never personally seen 'overnight' defined in any state statutes. That doesn't mean that it isn't but it's not something I have ever seen. The closest I have seen is curfew ordinances, but that's not by state.
 

>Charlotte<

Lurker
I doubt you'll find any statutory reference. The restriction doesn't exist because there's a law against it, it exists because that's how the terms of your divorce were written.
 

Isis1

Senior Member
I doubt you'll find any statutory reference. The restriction doesn't exist because there's a law against it, it exists because that's how the terms of your divorce were written.
well then, my next question to the OP is....what is the exact wording of your court order?
 

Arkansas Dad

Junior Member
well then, my next question to the OP is....what is the exact wording of your court order?
sorry.. had to edit this to get exact wording...

"Each of the parties is enjoined and restrained from having overnight guests of the opposite sex, to whom they are not related by blood nor marriage while in the presence of the minor child."
 
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Ohiogal

Queen Bee
The purpose of this clause is to provide stability for the children's living arrangements and thus caselaw defines exactly what this means:
47 S.W.3d 222
TAYLOR v. TAYLOR, 345 Ark. 300, (Ark. 06/21/2001)
Which finds the following:
The Campbell court stated that the purpose of the overnight-guest order is to promote a stable environment for the children and is not imposed merely to monitor a parent's sexual conduct. 336 Ark at 389.
and:
As emphasized by our court's earlier decisions, the trial court's use of the non-cohabitation restriction is a material factor to consider when determining custody issues. Id. Such a restriction or prohibition aids in structuring the home place so as to reduce the possibilities (or opportunities) where children may be [345 Ark Page 305]

[29] present and subjected to a single parent's sexual encounters, whether they be heterosexual or homosexual. *fn1
and
Finally, Linda argues that the chancellor's finding of contempt was in error because she had complied with the non-cohabitation clause contained in the temporary custody order by making arrangements so that she and Richards never slept in the home on the same night. From Linda's and Christina's own admissions at the final hearing, and despite the living arrangements that she devised in reaction to the non-cohabitation order, Linda still considered Christina to be a resident of the household and allowed her to remain living there overnight in the presence of the children, three nights a week when Linda worked overnight shifts. [345 Ark Page 307]

[37] [11] As the chancellor noted in finding Linda in contempt of his order, the temporary order clearly mandated that Christina be removed from the same household as the children and forbade Linda from sharing the residence and living arrangements with Christina when the children were present. Christina's continued residence in the home was a violation of the express terms of the non-cohabitation clause, and the chancellor did not err in holding Linda in contempt. It is important to note that the custody order conditions Linda's continued custody on compliance with this provision and allows custody to revert to Chris Taylor should he demonstrate that Linda has failed to comply with the non-cohabitation order.
In other words, it is NOT the hours that the person is in the residence but the fact that they call this their residence part of the time when the children are there that is at issue. Mom is in contempt per OP's description.
 

Arkansas Dad

Junior Member
I doubt you'll find any statutory reference. The restriction doesn't exist because there's a law against it, it exists because that's how the terms of your divorce were written.
She was going to try to fight this restriction from being entered into the divorce decree but was advised by an attorney that this clause was mandatory any time divorce was filed on grounds of adultery. Is there something that i'm missing here?
 

Ohiogal

Queen Bee
She was going to try to fight this restriction from being entered into the divorce decree but was advised by an attorney that this clause was mandatory any time divorce was filed on grounds of adultery. Is there something that i'm missing here?
Yeah. The case law I posted which refers to several other cases which explains the history of the clause.
 

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