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Taylor Frankie Paul recently addressed why she was spotted sharing a heartfelt moment with Dakota Mortensen’s mother at a custody and protective order hearing involving her former partner.
After a fan Instagram account circulated a video clip showing Taylor embracing Cheyenne Cranford Mortensen at Salt Lake City’s Third District Courthouse on Thursday, April 30, Taylor decided to clarify the situation in the comments section.
“That was my goodbye to a family my older kids and I loved deeply❤️🩹,” Taylor, who is 31, commented. She shares a 2-year-old son, Ever, with Dakota, and has an 8-year-old daughter, Indy, and a 5-year-old son, Ocean, with her ex-husband Tate Paul.
During the legal proceedings, the court ruled that both Taylor and the 33-year-old Dakota receive protective orders against one another.
In a significant development in the legal conflict between Taylor Frankie Paul and her ex-partner Dakota Mortensen, a judge remarked on the nature of their relationship. “This has been a very toxic relationship. It’s beyond the pale in a lot of ways, the toxicity,” the judge stated during the protective order hearing on April 30, which focused on their custody issues.
Utah Commissioner Russell Minas ordered Taylor and Dakota to stay 100 feet away from each other for a period of three years.
Minas described their relationship as “dysfunctional” as he handed down the orders.
“This has been a very toxic relationship. It’s beyond the pale in a lot of ways, the toxicity,” Minas said on Thursday. “What I’ve seen from the evidence even post [the] last hearing, there seems to be a continuing attraction that they have for each other. … You guys have to figure out a lot here. You have to figure out how to function as coparents.”
“I’m hoping that you’re not people who just thrive on the drama and the conflict,” the judge added. “You’ve got to put your child first and shield the child from this conflict. I’m going to leave the current order in place. I need to think a little bit more about this lifting of supervision. I have mixed feelings about it.”
Taylor Frankie Paul and Cheyenne Cranford Mortensen. (Photo by Bethany Baker – Pool/Getty Images)
Dakota was granted temporary custody of Ever in March amid allegations of domestic violence between him and Taylor. Taylor is currently allowed up to eight hours of supervised visitation with the toddler. There were no changes made to the custody arrangement on Thursday.
Dakota filed for a temporary protective order against Taylor in March amid two police investigations into domestic violence allegations involving the exes. Taylor was granted her own temporary protective order against Dakota in April.
Taylor’s attorney, Eric M. Swinyard, addressed the court hearing via a statement shared with Us Weekly on Thursday.
The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives stars Taylor Frankie Paul and Dakota Mortensen have tried to coparent son Ever since their fall 2024 split. Paul and Mortensen welcomed their first baby together, the MomTok content creator’s third, in March 2024, months before they called it quits. As Paul and Mortensen navigated jointly raising their son, […]
“Today’s hearing was a significant step forward as the Court entered protective orders requiring that Taylor’s ex-partner stays far away from her,” he told Us.
“Taylor was incredibly candid with the Court that she is not perfect and owned her faults, which is in direct contrast to how the other party presented their argument, despite evidence and input from law enforcement that showed otherwise,” Swinyard continued. “Taylor feels solidarity with the many survivors who have endured similar hardships behind closed doors and shared only part of their stories, and she remains grateful for the outpouring of support she continues to receive. She looks forward to continuing to cooperate with the Court to make progress in the custody case.”