I do not believe that that clause is required by law, I may be wrong. If your 17 year old son has already met and you are living with your romantic partner then how does your ex plan to have you follow that agreement? And besides, within 12 months, won’t your son be an adult and then this part won’t matter because there will no longer be minor children involved? Or do you have another child…?
The thing to keep in mind is that a separation agreement is just that, an agreement. If there is any part of the agreement that you do not agree to, then you should not sign it. You can request any part of an agreement to be changed as long as you are not asking something that is illegal…and as I said I do not believe that is a legally required clause.
Thanks for your post – no, there is no other child so normally that would be true, but this one is special needs and therefore falls under the agreement until able to support himself (if ever).
Your point - about enforcement - was exactly the one I made to my ex – unless one of us makes an issue of it, no one else will… however, I would prefer not to have the language there at all, unless required by statue, so as to remove the potential for anyone to make it an issue at any point in the future.
Again, I would wait for the attorney to answer on this one but, with the section that you posted, there is no mention of the child being dependent. It only says minor, which is under age 18…(right?)
In fact, I’ve read on here that there are some attorney’s who will not put custody arrangements into an agreement stating that’s it is separate issue and should be agreed to as such. From what I have read on the home site, these things can be put into an agreement but do not necessarily have to be in there. I do not believe that they are required…
Since your son is special needs, I believe that your stbx is attempting to shield the child from emotional stress if he should get attached to someone in either of your lives and then something happens to that relationship. It sounds like a good idea but it may not be realistic to keep this in the agreement, especially after absolute divorce and since you are already living with someone…just my opinion…
Just as clarification, this is part of the Consent Judgement and Order (re: child custody and child support) document and NOT in the Contract of Separation and Property Settlement Agreement.
Thanks for your feedback – yours thoughts seem to echo mind. It will be interesting to hear a “legal” opinion as well.
This provision is not required by NC Law and is not likely to be ordered by the court.
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In drafting our divorce/custody agreements my husband’s attorny included the following clause which my husband claims to be “required by NC law” – I can find no statue to support it.
“Neither party shall introduce a romantic partner to the minor child until they have been in an exclusive dating relationship for six (6) consecutive months, and neither party shall have overnights with the dating partner in the presence of the minor child until they have had an exclusive dating relationship for twelve (12)consecutive months”.
As context, we are receiving joint custody (he has physical custody) of our 17-year old son and we have the appropriate clause in the separation agreement saying we can each live where we want. I now reside with my “romantic partner” and in fact my son HAS met my romantic partner and HAS been in the house overnight with him for a few hours on one occasion already, with my ex’s knowledge.
Is this clause required by NC law or is it my right to request it be stricken from the consent judgement and order? Any insights are greatly appreciated.