A Texas judge recently issued a
surprising ruling saying that a lesbian would not be permitted to continue
living in the same house due to a morality clause found in the divorce papers
of one of the two women.
Such morality clauses are common not only
in Texas, but even seen in some Ohio divorce cases where the parents are
worried about exposing children to new romantic partners. The clauses are meant
to ensure that parents are legally prevented from bringing future boyfriends or
girlfriends over to spend the night while the children are present.
In most instances, the way to bypass this
provision is to go ahead and get married to your partner. This works because
morality clauses cannot prevent anyone from cohabitating with a spouse. The
problem here is that in Texas marriage is not an option for gay couples so the
lesbian partners have no way around the strict language contained in the
divorce decree.
Judge John Roach heard the dispute regarding
the 2011 divorce signed by Carolyn Compton and ordered Carolyn and her female
partner, Page Price, to move out of their shared home. The issue was that the
two women lived together in a home along with Comptons’ two daughters,
something that led Compton’s ex-husband to take the matter to court. Compton’s
ex husband argued that the morality clause found in their divorce decree was
gender-neutral and said it should be enforced for the benefit of the children.
Compton’s attorney tried to argue that
the morality clause was unconstitutional not only for gay couples, but straight
divorcees as well. The attorney claimed that the law unreasonably limits
parents’ abilities to make decisions for their own lives.
On the surface, the idea behind a
morality clause is a good one: to protect children in an Ohio child custody
case from a revolving door of romantic partners. It goes without saying that
this would be detrimental to the children, though exactly how damaging is
difficult to understand.
However, the problem with such morality
clauses is that there are far too many loopholes in even the best drafted
documents. Further, they cannot stop the children from being introduced to new
significant others in a parent’s life, only stop them from spending the night.
Finally, the clauses allow yet another intrusion into the lives of a couple who
have likely already had intimate details paraded before a room full of
strangers.
If you find yourself facing the prospect
of complicated divorce and have questions about your rights and options,
contact an experienced Ohio family law attorney who can help guide you through the
difficult process. Count on the expertise of Twinsburg family law
attorney Carol L. Stephan.
Source:
“Texas
judge says lesbian couple can’t cohabitate, cites morality clause in divorce
papers,” by The Associated Press, WashingtonPost.com.
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