Taylor Frankie Paul is not backing down from her exes, and she just made that crystal clear. According to a report this week, the “Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” star rejected separate custody proposals from both Dakota Mortensen and Tate Paul—and the numbers tell the story: her exes were asking for 60 percent custody while offering her just 40 percent, which would’ve put Taylor below the 50 percent threshold that marks equal parenting time.
Taylor said hell no. According to a source quoted by the New York Post, she rejected both proposals and made clear she’s focused on what’s actually best for her kids. Translation: she’s willing to go to war in court rather than accept an arrangement that cuts her out.
Here’s where it gets messy: Dakota Mortensen and Tate Paul aren’t just working separately—they’re now sharing the same legal team. In early July, Dakota ditched his previous attorney Joel Kittrell and hired Steven Russell and Chad Shattuck, the exact same lawyers repping her ex-husband Tate. The optics? Both men are coordinated, and they’re bringing pressure on the same front. Taylor’s legal team has accused the exes of being “in cahoots” to strip her of primary custody.
The custody beef didn’t come out of nowhere. Taylor was married to Tate from 2016 to 2022 and shares two kids with him: Indy (8) and Ocean (6). She dated Dakota from 2022 until their split in 2026 and has a 2-year-old son, Ever, with him. The relationship backdrop is heavy: in February 2023, Taylor was arrested on domestic violence charges after a physical altercation with Dakota—she threw metal chairs and pleaded guilty to aggravated assault, though other charges were dropped. That incident came back to haunt her in March 2026 when video footage from that 2023 fight leaked online, reigniting the entire custody war.
Since then, the court machinery has been relentless. Both exes filed for restraining orders against Taylor. Dakota got temporary custody of Ever while Taylor fought for expanded visitation. A Utah judge ordered Taylor to undergo drug and alcohol testing, and by June 2026, she’d scored a win—supervised visits were lifted and she got alternating weekends plus one midweek day with Ever. But the momentum didn’t hold. Two weeks ago, Utah’s Division of Child and Family Services filed its own petition asking a juvenile court to determine whether her three kids are “abused, neglected or dependent.” That filing raised the stakes dramatically, with Chad Shattuck—the lawyer for both exes—declaring that Taylor’s response “minimizes the gravity” of DCFS’s concerns.
Now, with twin custody proposals on the table demanding she give up 20 percent of her parenting time, the situation is approaching a breaking point. Taylor’s legal fight is no longer just against one ex—it’s a coordinated two-front battle, and the stakes involve the three children at the center of her life. The court system in Utah has been watching this unfold for months, and every ruling has swung like a pendulum. One hearing lifts her restrictions; the next brings DCFS into juvenile court. Taylor’s refusal of the 60-40 split suggests she’s not interested in negotiating down from her current arrangements, which means this case is headed for what could be a lengthy court battle.
The larger context: reality TV has a way of thrusting personal crises into the public eye, and Taylor’s domestic violence history plus her recent parenting investigations are exactly the kind of material that courts use to make custody decisions. The fact that her exes hired the same legal representation speaks volumes about strategy—when two co-parents align their legal firepower, it’s usually because they believe the mother in question poses a genuine risk. Whether the courts agree is another story, but Taylor’s hard line against the 60-40 proposal shows she still has fight left in her.
The 16BARS take: Taylor Frankie Paul refusing to bend on custody isn’t about pride—it’s about not letting two exes with matching lawyers rewrite the terms of her motherhood. The court system will decide, but her willingness to reject what looks like a coordinated pressure campaign suggests she’s betting on the judges, not negotiation.
