help with housing laws for children

[scottm]

i am trying to find a place to stay with my girlfriend and her 2 daughters and my son. i am wondering if we have a 2 bedroom apartment and give the 2 girls one room, and my son the other, then we just make our room out of the living room area if that would be ok with the courts?  i am going through a custody fight with my sons mom and i want to make sure i do everything correctly. It is really hard to find something with 3 bedrooms that we can afford in our area. we live in indiana also.
thanks

[Kent]

Scott,

As a general rule, courts want to see each child to have their own bedroom, i.e. ideally you would need a 4-bedroom place. Since you appear to be the one in a custody dispute, the court may only look at your son having his own room, but it's a risk you're taking.

However, the bigger risk is that you are planning on co-habitation with a woman you are not married to. Courts seriously frown upon that (especially if your divorce is not yet final). To put yourself in the best position, get a 2 bedroom place for you and your son. Once you are ready to make a commitment for life to your new girlfriend, go for it and then move in together.

Kent!

[gemini3]

I disagree that the courts want each child to have their own room.  I think that they want to see that the children have their own beds, and that they are not sharing a room with adults or with opposite gender children (after a certain age).  I can see there being an issue with you and your girlfriend not having a bedroom.  Everyone knows that couples are intimate, and there should be a measure of privacy available to you and the children that wouldn't be possible if you were sleeping in the living room.


I do agree that the courts aren't friendly towards co-habitation issues.  However, if the other party is also cohabitating it makes it a moot point.

[scottm]

thanks for the replys, this stuff is just so complicated, im just trying to do everything the correct way and i cant afford nothing on my own yet, due to the fact i am still paying on the house my wife and i had together.