Question:    I don't trust my ex-husband around our child.  I caught my ex-husband trying to have an affair by using an internet site for “sugar daddies.”  He wants to basically pay women to date him and I noticed that he was looking at a lot of sites to become a sugar daddy.  And that's not all.  I think he was arrested out of state for possession of meth and cocaine.  So not only is he looking to have a relationship with prostitutes but I think he's dealing drugs.

I really don't want our daughter around him.  I know he has a bad temper, and that's why I had to divorce him; he also drank too much.  But since he's not working steadily, he was fired from his jobs in Atlanta and Alpharetta, I think he's becoming a drug seller to make money.  So I'm worried about my daughter, who's 6 years old.  Last time he took her home from a long weekend, she said that “daddy has friends with big guns who don't speak English and who play with powder for fun.”  I was shocked.

I'm scared and you can see why.  I don't want him around our kid without someone else there.  I just don't think it's safe and I'm worried about the people he's hanging around with and I'm worried that something bad could happen. 

What advice do you have to keep my daughter safe?

K.N. in Johns Creek, GA

Answer:    In situations where a child can be in danger, a court can issue an order that provides for supervised visitation.  Supervised visitation enables a party to see and interact with his or her child, but it is done in a supervised, structured and safe environment.  In other words, while your daughter is with your former husband, they are watched.

A court can order supervised visitation if it feels the child could be in danger.  The court will make that determination based upon the “best interests of the child,” a standard often used in divorce and family law cases. 

So you would have to prove that your ex-husband is putting your child in danger.  Obviously, if he's doing the things you allege, like dealing drugs, that would constitute a danger to the child.

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