We will be seperating here soon, and would like to get some details about what is allowed and what is not allowed. We have a seperate detached garage that we rent out to renters, but it is located at the same address as the house, would that be considered seperate living quarters, that are maintained seperately? Also if not another option is to rent a apartment, and we the parents move back and forth, sharing the apartment 1 week at a time for each of us, while the other parent lives in the house with the children, is that a possible soulution?
I would recommend that you do get a separate apartment to ensure the court will recognize your physical separation. You may swap turns in home to be with the children. This is sometimes referred to as a “nesting schedule” and does not destroy the physical separation.
So we the parents moving back and forth between the apartment, even though it is the same apartment, it will be a 2 bedroom 2 bathroom, 1 room for him and 1 room for me. The apt, will be in his name, most likely due to the fact we only have his income at the moment. But we want to make sure that it is possible to do that, because he has been told that if we are “sharing” the apt, even though we will not be there at the same time, if there are personal items for each of us there, then it would be considered cohabitation, and the court would not recoginize that as a seperation. We are trying to be civil about this and do what is best for the children.
And to clarify, the seperate detatched garage would not work?
I disagree with whoever told you your sharing the apartment constitutes cohabitation. It is clear to me that you are only trying to minimize expenses and allow the children to remain in their home when spending time with each of you in a nesting schedule.
There have been cases in which a separate garage apartment has created questions with respect to whether or not there was a true separation. I do advise getting a separate physical address.