Category Archives: Child Custody
Does Less Income Mean Less Parenting Time?
Of all the ugly things that spouses say to each other in the midst of a divorce, threats to take the children away from the other spouse are the ugliest. On some level, you know that your ex-spouse cannot legally deprive you of the opportunity to spend time with your children, but the stress… Read More »
If You Want a Painless Co-Parenting Relationship, Start by Being KIND
Even if you have seen other divorced people succeed at co-parenting, it is even harder than it looks, especially in the beginning and especially during the holidays. Whether your co-parenting relationship eventually settles into a tolerable new normal or whether you and your ex-spouse continue to antagonize each other until your children reach adulthood,… Read More »
Dealing With a Disrespectful Co-Parent
Sometimes the most laid-back people become short-tempered after they become parents, even after the days of nighttime feedings and difficult to install baby car seats have passed. You might ordinarily be the kind of person who never takes offense to anything, but when you ask your child to do something and your child ignores… Read More »
Is There Ever a Valid Reason Not to Let Your Ex-Spouse Exercise Parenting Time?
It is never easy to let your children venture out into the world when you know about all of the unpleasantness and the dangers out there, but it is part of letting children grow up. You smile and wave goodbye as your children take their seats on the school bus, knowing that they have… Read More »
Don’t Let Your Ego Get in the Way When Making Parenting Plan Decisions
Parenting is not a competition, even though the desire to see other kids’ parents, or even other adults in your own children’s lives, as rivals, is palpable. You passive-aggressively engage other parents at the playground in conversation about your children’s developmental milestones. Sure, that other parent’s kid started walking before her first birthday, but… Read More »
New Florida Law Makes It Easier for Unmarried Fathers to Get Parenting Time
Florida law has long included a streamlined process to ensure that, after a divorce, both parents get a fair share of parenting time. The courts will not finalize the divorce of a couple that has minor children until the parents have agreed to a parenting plan. Most couples, with the help of their lawyers,… Read More »
Can You Still Exercise Your Parenting Time If the Court Issues a Domestic Violence Injunction Against You?
The courts have an obligation to respect the rights of people accused of wrongdoing, such as the right to due process of law before the court takes any long-lasting action against them. They also have an obligation to protect people who are in immediate danger of harm, especially when that harm involves physical violence. … Read More »
Can Domestic Violence Cases Ever Lead to Peaceful Co-Parenting?
You can never tell from looking at someone what they have been through during the times before you met them. Someone might have a good relationship with his teen children and be on reasonably good terms with his ex-wife, but their divorce may have involved much more drama than you could imagine, and perhaps… Read More »
Negotiating With Your Ex-Spouse About Parenting Is Exhausting, but a Family Law Attorney Can Help
Someone once said that having a child is like seeing your heart walking around outside your body. As such, seeing the way other people interact with your child can trigger emotions you never knew you had. You never thought your spouse was shallow until you heard the things she said about what people would… Read More »
Co-Parenting When One Ex-Spouse Is More Religious Than the Other
Religion is an important part of many families’ daily lives, but the family court is loath to interfere with people’s religious practices. Plenty of happily married people adhere to religious practices other than those of their spouse. In some families, Mom says her prayers every night while Dad scrolls through news headlines, and Mom… Read More »
