I have a huge moral deliema as to how to handle a current situation that my child told me about last week when he was at my house. We currently have joint custody (she has primary physical custody) and I get 6 out of 14 days visitation. My son’s mother was divorced last month from a guy that she was only married to for 4 months before they seperated. she emailed me a few weeks ago beggin me to switch a day of visitation with her so she could take our son on a vacation which she had pre paid for. According to my son she took a male friend with her on this vacation. My son also stated that they slept in the same bed while on vacation. I have my son telling me this on video tape when I was recording our fiching and camping trip together. There is nothing in our order that currently states we can’t have overnight guests of the oppisite sex with us, but I truly believe that it is not creating a good atmosphere in the best interest of my son to see his mother continually sleeping with different men. Would this video tape be admissable and what would I need to file to make sure that this doesnt continue to happen? Please advise.
Honestly if there is nothing in your order prohibiting this sort of behavior I am not sure the Court would do anything about it. Unless this man is a danger to your child I don’t think you meet the burden of showing that his presence is a “subtantial change in circumstances affecting the wellbeing of the child”, which is necessary to modify the custodial schedule
You could consider filing a motion for judicial assistance to try and add a provision regarding overnight guests, but again, many judges will not issue an order preventing this type of behavior.
As for the video tape, I am not sure a judge would agree to view it, and it may even put a bad taste in the judges mouth that you interviewed your son regarding an adult issue.