I have sole custody of our 5 children. He works out of the country and lives in TN.He sees the kids for 3-4 days every few months. Visitation is as agreed upon. Ultimately it is up to me for their protection. Divorced in April 2014, my ex now has a new fiancé that refuses to allow him to be alone with our kids. She has been rude and claims she will "instruct" them as she sees fit. The children have only met her once and are still building a relationship with their father. I'm allowing him to come to town to see them when he wants but after her stunts, will not allow them to be around his fiancé as it is not in their best interest or safety. She claims that she is calling the shots now. Is there an issue here that I may need to retain an attorney for further assistance?
It's not clear that you have "sole custody" (now called time-sharing) based on your question. You indicated that visitation is as "agreed upon" but that doesn't exclude the possibility that it's part of your divorce judgment. When spouses remarry or become engaged, the new person will frequently attempt to change the dynamic---often it's a power play. Regardless, it happens often.
Furthermore, your actions in dictating the manner in which the father sees his children could reflect very negatively upon you in a modification proceeding. You should absolutely have an attorney review your Final Judgment and related orders to ensure that your understanding is accurate and that your behavior is justified. Also, just because the fiance has been rude does not mean that you get to determine that they children "will not be around her." It might appear to you that I'm being "harsh" or critical of you. I am not. A large part of what we do as attorneys is what I would call "risk management." I don't want you to suffer negative consequences which could result from your handling of this matter. But it's impossible for me to give definitive guidance because there are so many variables to consider that can only be addressed with an attorney that you've retained. Good luck.
Well, you say you have sole custody, but he has timeshare ("visitation") "as agreed upon." Does that mean that you can stop the timeshare? If you can stop the timeshare, then why don't you just say to him, "Unless you keep her away from the kids, you can't have any more timeshare"?
But, if he is entitled to his timeshare under court order, then it's up to him how he spends that time with the kids. And that means, he makes the decision whether his fiancée can be around kids. If you feel the fiancée is harming the kids, physically or psychologically, you may be able to obtain a court order preventing the fiancée from being around the kids. If he wants to allow his fiancée to instruct the kids, that's his business, and you'll need a lot more than that before you can get a court order.
