For most spouses undergoing legal separation or divorce, child access and custody is a primary point of contention. Daycare or school facilities and staff are frequent expressional outlets of emotional anguish for parents embroiled in acrimonious domestic relations disputes. Parents desire periodic reprieves from stressful child access and custody battles. By the same token, children require...
Devising parenting plans for couples involved in turbulent divorces is very challenging. These couples communicate using contrived statements, which preempt the responses of the other. Each party seeks to rectify the perceived injustice of past deeds and with every move they intensify their mutual hatred, which becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. They use esoteric phrases and deliberately...
The Parenting Plan is a document that helps divorcing parents to make decisions about their children’s future. The worksheet lists major issues and helps parents to negotiate and resolve numerous issues about the care of their children after the marriage ends. By completing the worksheet, the divorcing couple creates their unique parenting plan. Important Questions that Need Answers One...
Divorce is hard. It rips the heart out as you face the failure of a marriage. When children are involved, it becomes more painful. In wanting to do what’s best for the children, it is often necessary to put aside your own feelings about the other party in the divorce. That’s easy to say, yet often impossible to achieve. Bringing in a mediator or childrens’ advocate to help...
Fighting for child custody is a contest that can be worn after each parent has put the best strategy forward. When battling out this issue, each parent is expected to present the best argument that disqualifies the other while making himself or herself the best parent worth of having the custody of the child. Since each parent presents the worst of his or her partner, child custody cases are...
Couples who are separated should ensure that they are familiar with the child custody process. This knowledge will help them in the courtroom if they decide to file for divorce. The term “custody” brings up images of one parent losing and the other winning. This adds tension to an already unpleasant situation. Fortunately, there is a way that parents can resolve child rearing...
There are a lot of similarities between two separated parents with joint custody adjusting to their new relationship, and the typical development of a young child. At about two years of age, children don’t yet know how to share, but may enjoy the company of other children. By about three years of age, children begin learning to share and begin to play with each other with the same toy....
The input of the assessors may be required in certain child custody cases wherein both parents cannot come to a mutual agreement. Parents are expected to work out their differences pertaining to their rights, but if they are unable to do so, the court may step in to settle the dispute in the most favorable way. Resolving Child Custody Cases with the Help of an Assessor When the battle for...
Children who are caught in the middle of parental conflicts experience a whole gamut of emotions from shock to bewilderment to despair. It is often difficult to shield a child from this ugly scuffle, but it must be done as much as possible to lessen its impact on the child’s social development. Avoid Using Your Child as a Pawn in the Parental Conflict Some parents tend to be...
It is a common misconception that joint child custody gives parents a 50/50 opportunity to care for their children after divorce. Most parents who file petitions seeking child custody rights have this thinking, but the reality is that at no single moment time can you share the child in equal measure. This can be confirmed from the analogy of King Solomon’s wisdom that sought to find the...