On behalf of Stange Law Firm, PC posted in Child Custody on Friday, March 31, 2017.
It goes without saying that divorce can be emotionally traumatic for the individuals involved. But when people with children decide to divorce, it affects more than just them; especially when there are children involved. After all, they are still parents even though they are no longer husband and wife.
Because children will stay involved in their parents’ lives, they should continue to keep their children’s feelings at heart. The first (and probably most important) step in this process is telling a child about a divorce. This post will provide some helpful tips.
Make a joint announcement – Bad news is best coming from both of you; even if one parent is no longer living in the family home. This is important because kids will undoubtedly have a number of questions about how their lives will be affected.
Make time together special – As we alluded to earlier, one parent unfortunately has to leave the child’s home. If this happens to be you, it does not mean that you disappear. Continue to spend as much time as possible with the kids. After all, your kids may miss you when things change.
Respect the other parent – Depending on how the marriage disintegrated, you may feel an obligation to tell the kids about how terrible the other parent is. But this is not helpful to the kids or the relationship with a co-parent. You should always remember that family court judges don’t want parents to say disparaging things about the other parent in front of the kids.
If you have additional questions about delivering news about a divorce to children, an experienced family law attorney can help.
