On a temporary family law motion, the moving party sought unsupervised and overnight access to two children and leave to amend his application to include two stepchildren.
Despite the responding party’s concerns arising from the moving party’s prior armed bank robbery, incarceration, reliability, temper, and living arrangements, the court held that increased regular access was in the children’s best interests.
The court emphasized the importance of a child’s right to maintain attachment to a non-custodial parent, found no evidentiary basis for concerns about the grandmother’s mental health or the sleeping arrangements, and avoided school-night overnights to reduce logistical difficulty.
Temporary phased-in unsupervised and overnight access was ordered, and leave to amend was granted under Rule 11(3).
