Divorced, With Children--and Forced to Live Together

For three years, Alain and Cheryl Doucet were like a cat and dog forced to live in the same cage.

The couple divorced in 1995, but the judge ordered them to reside together until their youngest child turned 18.

The result? Separate phone lines, separate televisions, separate refrigerator shelves for his food and hers. Even a padlock on Cheryl Doucet’s bedroom door.

The Doucets tried to avoid crossing paths in the four-bedroom house. They spoke only when absolutely necessary. And as much as possible, they tried to stay away from the tension-filled place, still adorned with a quaint “Home Sweet Home” sign on the front door.

“It’s been hell,” Cheryl Doucet said.

The Doucets met in 1975 in Niagara Falls, N.Y., the Honeymoon Capital of the World, and married a few months later. Things soon turned sour. He says she was irresponsible. She says he was domineering. They filed for divorce in 1992.

After three more years of feuding, Cuyahoga County Judge Stanley Fisher issued a divorce decree in which he ordered that “both parties are to remain in residential property until the youngest child, Stacey, reaches the age of 18 years and/or graduates from high school.”

Fisher refused recently to say why he gave such an order or to comment on the case.

Alain Doucet figures the judge was trying to craft a compromise: Cheryl Doucet wanted the house, alimony and custody of the children. Alain Doucet didn’t want to lose daily contact with his children.

A student, Cheryl Doucet, 48, spent a good deal of time at her community college classes. Sometimes she would head out for the movies, sneaking back in only after everybody was asleep. Her ex-husband, 51, took refuge in his job helping to direct shipping and receiving for a rail manufacturer.

But there were times when the pair couldn’t avoid each other.

“If you went to the bathroom and the door was closed, you just had to wait there,” Cheryl Doucet said.

Caught in the middle were son Stacey, 18, and daughter Andrea, 20, who both lived at home.

“It was weird and divided,” Stacey said. “There was always a struggle going. Mostly, if I wanted to go out with my friends, I would ask my dad.”

Cheryl Doucet said the setup eventually caused “plenty of screaming and yelling” between her and her children, and “our relationship is totally gone.”

According to Fisher’s original order, the Doucets were to finally get rid of each other Aug. 14, when Stacey turned 18. But Alain Doucet left early, remarrying and moving out on May 2. Despite their misery, Cheryl Doucet tried unsuccessfully to block him from leaving.

“I didn’t care that he was getting married, but he was breaking a court order,” she said.

As for Stacey, he moved in with his father on his birthday. “It feels like dropping a load off my back,” he said. “I sleep better now.”

Although the Doucets have little in common these days, they do agree on one thing: Their divorce didn’t have to be this bad.

“If I had known what the judicial system was going to do to us, I would have packed my bags,” Alain Doucet said.