When the marriage is broken beyond repair and divorce is on the horizon, you may consider hopping back into the dating pool once again. After all, no law prohibits you from finding love again.
However, dating before your divorce is finalized can come with a myriad of challenges. This is especially true if you have children. Keep in mind that the court takes the best interests of the children extremely seriously when ruling on custody and parenting plans.
To this end, here are two important questions to ask yourself if you are seeing someone else while your divorce is underway.
Is your new relationship eating into your parenting time?
Your parenting obligation should never be impacted by your new relationship. If it becomes apparent that you are spending all your time with your new lover (perhaps on vacations and road trips) at the expense of spending time with your child, then your soon-to-be ex could argue that you don’t appear to be as interested in caring for your child as you say.
Does your new lover pose a threat to the child?
If you are seeing someone with a significant criminal history, especially one that involves violence, drug and substance abuse, then this can cause problems for your custody case. The same is true if your new lover is using illegal drugs or is a registered sex offender. Depending on the circumstances of your case, the court may restrict how much time you will spend with the child for fear that your new partner poses a threat.
A judge needs to be sure that the decisions they make reflect the best option for your child.