diff --git a/src/Wave/DB/Model.php b/src/Wave/DB/Model.php
index eb1c22e..5db00fd 100644
--- a/src/Wave/DB/Model.php
+++ b/src/Wave/DB/Model.php
@@ -383,6 +383,22 @@ public function _getJoinedObjects() {
         return $this->_joined_objects;
     }
 
+    public function _setRelationDefault($relation_name) 
+    {
+        $relation = static::_getRelation($relation_name);
+
+        switch($relation['relation_type']) {
+            case Relation::ONE_TO_ONE:
+            case Relation::MANY_TO_ONE:
+                $this->_data[$relation_name] = null;
+                break;
+            case Relation::ONE_TO_MANY:
+            case Relation::MANY_TO_MANY:
+                $this->_data[$relation_name] = array();
+                break;
+        }
+    }
+
     /**
      * Returns the joined objects for a given class name. Looks for the class in the list
      * of aliases used when registering joined objects against this model
diff --git a/src/Wave/DB/Query.php b/src/Wave/DB/Query.php
index 8f4c00a..9706d86 100644
--- a/src/Wave/DB/Query.php
+++ b/src/Wave/DB/Query.php
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 
 use Wave;
 use Wave\Config;
+use Wave\Inflector;
 
 /**
  * @method \Wave\DB\Query and () and ($condition, mixed $params = array())
@@ -158,7 +159,8 @@ public function with($relation, &$alias = null) {
         //this needs recording so the object can be added as a relation, not a join
         $this->with[$alias] = array(
             'relation_type' => $relation_data['relation_type'],
-            'relation_name' => Wave\Inflector::singularize($relation)
+            'relation_name' => $relation,
+            'singular_name' => Wave\Inflector::singularize($relation)
         );
 
         return $this;
@@ -743,8 +745,15 @@ public function fetchRow($parse_objects = true, $debug = false) {
 
 
             //if there's no instance of the main class, create a new one.
-            if(!isset($object_instances[$this->from_alias]))
+            if(!isset($object_instances[$this->from_alias])) {
                 $object_instances[$this->from_alias] = $this->buildClassInstance($this->from_alias);
+                
+                if($object_instances[$this->from_alias] !== null  && !empty($this->with)) {
+                    foreach($this->with as $with) {
+                        $object_instances[$this->from_alias]->_setRelationDefault($with['relation_name']);
+                    }
+                }
+            }
 
             if($object_instances[$this->from_alias] === null) {
                 trigger_error('Insufficient data in SELECT to build object instance.');
@@ -785,11 +794,11 @@ public function fetchRow($parse_objects = true, $debug = false) {
                         switch($this->with[$join['table_alias']]['relation_type']) {
                             case Wave\DB\Relation::ONE_TO_ONE:
                             case Wave\DB\Relation::MANY_TO_ONE:
-                                $object_instances[$join['target_alias']]->{'set' . $this->with[$join['table_alias']]['relation_name']}($object_instances[$join['table_alias']], false);
+                                $object_instances[$join['target_alias']]->{'set' . $this->with[$join['table_alias']]['singular_name']}($object_instances[$join['table_alias']], false);
                                 break;
                             case Wave\DB\Relation::ONE_TO_MANY:
                             case Wave\DB\Relation::MANY_TO_MANY:
-                                $object_instances[$join['target_alias']]->{'add' . $this->with[$join['table_alias']]['relation_name']}($object_instances[$join['table_alias']], false);
+                                $object_instances[$join['target_alias']]->{'add' . $this->with[$join['table_alias']]['singular_name']}($object_instances[$join['table_alias']], false);
                                 break;
                         }
                     } else {
diff --git a/src/Wave/Validator/Constraints/ExistsConstraint.php b/src/Wave/Validator/Constraints/ExistsConstraint.php
index 3d9f9f4..cf0fa47 100644
--- a/src/Wave/Validator/Constraints/ExistsConstraint.php
+++ b/src/Wave/Validator/Constraints/ExistsConstraint.php
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ class ExistsConstraint extends AbstractConstraint implements CleanerInterface {
     protected $type = 'exists';
     protected $message = null;
     private $match_fields = array();
+    private $with_relations = array();
     private $instance = null;
 
     public function __construct($property, $arguments, Validator &$validator) {
@@ -29,6 +30,8 @@ public function __construct($property, $arguments, Validator &$validator) {
             $this->match_fields = array($arguments['property'] => $property);
         }
 
+        $this->with_relations = $arguments['with'] ?? [];
+
         if(empty($this->match_fields))
             throw new \InvalidArgumentException("[$this->type] constraint requires at least one property to match");
 
@@ -39,10 +42,14 @@ public function __construct($property, $arguments, Validator &$validator) {
      * @return bool
      */
     public function evaluate() {
-        $statement = DB::get()->from($this->arguments['model']);
+        $statement = DB::get()->from($this->arguments['model'], $alias);
+
+        foreach($this->with_relations as $relation_name) {
+            $statement->with($relation_name);
+        }
 
         foreach($this->match_fields as $column => $input_key) {
-            $statement->where($column . ' = ?', $this->validator[$input_key]);
+            $statement->where("$alias.$column = ?", $this->validator[$input_key]);
         }
 
         $this->instance = $statement->fetchRow();