Legal Question in Family Law in Utah
Cohabitation and Custody
I have been dating my girlfriend for about a year. She has two children, a 6 yr. old and a 3 yr. old. Thier father is delinquent on his child support and is in serious legal trouble over it currently.
Even worse, is he very rarely spends time with his children and wants to bring them back to thier mother generally after a few hours. He spends more effort on harrassing thier mother than giving his children his time, including telling them she is the one responsible for breaking up the family. We have been talking about getting married but we probably won't for another 6 months to a year. It is a long distance relationship within the state and she struggles financially on her own. There would be great benefits to us and the children financially as well as eliminating a lot of travel if she moved in with me. I own my home and have a good job while she is renting a small apartment. Can her ex cause her any problems regarding custody if her and her children live in my home before marriage?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Cohabitation and Custody
Yes he can. The mother has a legal (and moral) obligation to provide a safe and legal environment for the children. The father can use her cohabitation as the basis for a custody dispute.
If you can afford to move her to your location, you can also afford to purchase a marriage license. If you care about the girl and her children, why not make a real committment and marry her? If you are uncertain about your feelings, the last thing you should do is to live with your girlfriend. You risk her getting pregnant (three children withoug a father); you add confusion to the lives of the children (is **** our new daddy? No, he is trying to make up his mind whether he is going to stay around or not.) And it is an unfair risk for your girlfriend to uproot herself and the two children to move in with some guy who is not committed. (She makes all of the sacrifices and gets no security.) Why do you think that it is in her best interests to live with you without a committment - because you get all the sex and housekeeping, along with someone to share the rent? What does she get out of the deal?
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