2022 Case – “Paramour provisions” – Can a judge restrict a boyfriend/girlfriend/significant other’s from being around the children?
What is a “paramour”? Merriam-Webster defines, as follows: LOVER, specifically : an illicit or secret lover; as an example, “a married man and his paramour.”
In the Tennessee Camacho case, the trial judge prohibited both parties against overnight guests of the opposite sex “under inappropriate circumstances”. The Appellate Court noted several issues with the trial judge’s prohibition:
1. There was no testimony that there was a concern that the Father was having overnights guests; and
2. There was no limit on the language that the times would be when the children were present; and
3. The terminology “under inappropriate circumstances” is not defined, leaving the parties to guess at what that would mean.
Law: In general, an order must be clear and unambiguous and specific to be enforceable.
Law: In general, a non-consensual paramour provision cannot be affirmed without evidence it is in the best interest of the children or that the presence of the parent’s partner in the home has a harmful effect on the children. Also, the concept of offending the “moral sense” of a child is not sufficient evidence to find that a child would be harmed by having a paramour present in the child’s life.
So, there you have it, if there is no agreement, then do not argue for a paramour provision unless there is evidence that it is in the best interests of the child or that the child would be harmed by the presence of the paramour in a child’s life.
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