A comprehensive co-parenting is best gift you can give your children! Admittedly putting together a solid, child-centered plan can be daunting. Because the best interest of your children will be at the forefront of every decision, the best results will come from working closely with your co-parent on the details. Your plan can be as specific or general as is practical for your … [Read more...] about Creating a Successful Parenting Plan
Divorce and Children
Will The Stimulus Affect My Child Support?
A former mediation client writes: I recently received a stimulus check of $1200 and I’m wondering if the $600 I received for [our child] should be divided and sent to [her Father] or will he receive his own check as well?How should we handle this sort of situation? This is a familiar question these days. And it may be of more interest if/when the next stimulus, proposed to be $2,000 each, … [Read more...] about Will The Stimulus Affect My Child Support?
What Does it Mean To Have a Child-Centered Divorce?
Robert McNamara, former Secretary of Defense during the 1960s, was the subject of a documentary film called The Fog of War. The title derives from the military concept of the "fog of war" depicting the difficulty of making decisions in the midst of conflict. The same challenge happens to divorcing couples. The ‘fog of war’ can affect decision making leading to an escalation of … [Read more...] about What Does it Mean To Have a Child-Centered Divorce?
How to Manage a Divorce, The Holidays and COVID-19
The holidays can be difficult, even in the best of times. Co-parenting can be particularly trying. Conflicts commonly arise related to when and how the children will spend their holiday time. In ordinary times, a good parenting plan is designed to mitigate these conflicts. However, a good parenting plan likely has not anticipated parenting during a pandemic such as COVID-19. … [Read more...] about How to Manage a Divorce, The Holidays and COVID-19
How Does Child Support Work?
Parents who divorce face the reality that two homes will be trying to meet budgets on the same income that once supported just one. The children will go back and forth between these two homes spending significant time in each home. Best outcomes for the children dictate they should feel comfortable at each home and believe that mom’s house is their house and that dad’s house is their house. It is … [Read more...] about How Does Child Support Work?
How To Determine Child Custody and Visitation
Child Custody and visitation are determined based upon the best interests of the children. These determinations may be made by agreement of the parents or after hearing upon the findings and orders of a court. Courts are supportive and very encouraging for parents to make these determinations by agreement. Courts know parents know their children better than anyone and can agree to custody and … [Read more...] about How To Determine Child Custody and Visitation
Dealing with the Fear in a Divorce
Most of the emotions that we see during the course of the breakdown of a marriage and the divorce process boil down to fear. I do not say that from my own expertise but from what I have heard over and over again from my colleagues in the mental health profession. The first victim of any marriage that is failing is communications. As communications break down, people can no longer successfully … [Read more...] about Dealing with the Fear in a Divorce
Pulling from Both Ends
By April Thompson, LMFT Imagine you’ve just made a string of three paper dolls and when you pull from both ends to see if it stays together. It indeed rips apart. But where does it rip, right down the middle, where the middle person is connected to either person on the ends? Now imagine this is your child, and either person on the end is yourself and your ex-partner. This is … [Read more...] about Pulling from Both Ends
