Child Custody in Divorce Modification
The fifth factor under Rule 4-903 in a child custody evaluation is the “moral character and emotional stability” of the Parties. Moral character is important when it pertains to child custody and the parenting that one parent may exhibit before and going through a divorce. A divorce and separation really can bring out the best or the worse in somebody and their parenting skills. It is important that the moral character of a parent be presented in a clear manner to a court. For example, it does not show good moral character for a parent to have romantic overnight guests when the children are at there home if there is a divorce pending. Further, sometimes it is not a good thing to have romantic partners stay overnight when the children are at the parent’s home. The reason for this is that the children are already going through a stressful time period in a divorce and having such guests after or during a divorce can confuse the children.
“‘Moral standards’ are a statutory consideration, Utah Code Ann. § 30-3-10 (1989), and may be relevant to a custody determination to the extent they affect the children’s best interests.” Roberts v. Roberts, 835 P.2d 193, 197 (Utah Ct.App.1992) (emphasis added). See Utah Code Ann. § 30-3-10(1) (Supp.1999).” Hudema v. Carpenter, 1999 UT App 290, 989 P.2d 491, 501.
Therefore, this consideration should have occurred based on the statute.
