Taylor Frankie Paul and Dakota Mortensen are taking the next steps forward in their ongoing and contentious custody battle over son Ever, 2, with wins on both sides.
The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives stars attended a court hearing in Utah on Wednesday, July 8, where a judge ruled that Paul, 32, will receive more unsupervised time with their toddler despite Mortensen’s legal team claiming she has taken “less than half” of her allocated parenting time thus far.
“For today, [I will] expand the weekends,” the judge declared. “Just to have the weekends carry over into Monday morning instead of Sunday evening.” (Mortensen, 33, will also have longer weekends based on the ruling.)
The judge also ordered that he doesn’t want Ever to be “transported on a motorcycle” after Paul’s attorneys shared a photo of their 2-year-old on the back of Mortensen’s bike allegedly driving more than three miles from his home.
After Mortensen’s team claimed Paul had been posting “disparaging” comments on social media about him, the judge ruled that neither party be allowed to post about the other, a win for Mortensen.
“I want to draw the line when it comes to negative comments about each other,” the judge said. “Eventually it could come back to the child and we want to shield [him] from that.”
When it comes to third party exchanges as his and Paul’s protective orders are still in place and require someone else to transfer Ever between them.
“The parent that’s retrieving the child would be the one responsible for having the third party with them for the exchange,” the judge explained, which would help take the pressure off Mortensen and Paul to figure it out each time. “I just don’t want them to be alone at the exchanges. I want them to stay away from each other.”
Lastly, the judge ruled that a “discover protective order” be put in place to protect both parties when sensitive documents are needed to go between their attorneys.
The judge also reprimanded Paul and Mortensen amid their ongoing legal battle, stating, “I get a feeling like there’s a desire to keep the drama going, that it keeps it in the news. Keeps them relevant.”
He said that “concerned” him as it could possibly affect their child when he’s older.
Moving forward, the judge ordered everyone back in court for another “parent time review” on August 10.
Paul and Mortensen have been at odds since Salt Lake City police launched a March investigation into an alleged domestic violence incident that allegedly took place the previous month between the exes. Both publicly denied the allegations of domestic violence made by the other.
Prior to prosecutors declining to file charges against Paul, a judge granted Mortensen’s request for temporary custody of Ever and a temporary protective order against Paul in March. The following month, the judge ruled that Paul could have supervised visits with Ever for eight hours per week.
Later in April, the judge issued mutual protective orders, requiring Paul and Mortensen to stay 100 feet away from each other for three years.
“You guys have to figure out a lot here. You have to figure out how to function as coparents,” the judge said during a court hearing at the time. “I’m hoping that you’re not people who just thrive on the drama and the conflict. You’ve got to put your child first and shield the child from this conflict.”
During a virtual hearing in June, the judge ruled that Paul’s time with Ever no longer had to be supervised. She was allowed to have her son on alternate weekends and one midweek day without an overnight stay each week. The judge also ordered Paul and Mortensen to avoid making disparaging comments about one another, continue therapy and stay 100 feet away from each other.
“I certainly think that both of them have a sense that they are the victims and not the perpetrators and I get that,” the judge said. “The main concern of the court is to prevent further acts of domestic violence and we can have the hope that we see the parents being in the same place getting along but now is not that time.”
One day before the June court hearing, Paul shared an update on her coparenting arrangement with Mortensen.
“I think all the projects and redoing is a fresh start but mainly a coping mechanism to distract from the fact my baby hasn’t been here for months now, aside visits,” she wrote via her Instagram Story in May.
In another post, Taylor — who also shares daughter Indy, 8, and son Ocean, 6, with ex-husband Tate Paul — included a photo of her and Ever holding hands with the caption, “I miss you baby.”
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 for confidential support.
