A divorce can be stressful at the best of times and positively nightmarish at worst. When children are involved, both parents must put aside their personal ambitions and focus on making sure that the children’s welfare becomes the main priority. Of course, every marriage is unique in many ways and when it comes to ending the relationship, careful consideration must be given to the children, especially how you both intend to break the news.
Come to an Initial Agreement Over Custody
Regardless of the circumstances, you both owe it to your children to ensure there is minimal impact on their lives. If an agreement cannot be reached, then it is best to let the child custody lawyers of both parties get together and try to come to a satisfactory conclusion regarding custody issues. If that does not produce results, then you and your lawyer will prepare your case to argue in the courts, which is where your lawyer’s skills will come into play.
Minimise the Initial Impact
The way you inform your children of the up and coming separation will go a long way towards their reaction. Ideally, both you and your partner should first come to a unified decision about when and how you will break the news. It is important to stress that the separation does not affect how you both feel about them and also to make sure they understand that they were in no way to blame for the divorce. When talking to your children, focus on the positive aspects, such as the great adventure trips you have planned for the days when you are together, and you should both put on a unified show when in their company. Children can pick up on emotions and if they feel that either mum or dad are unhappy, this could have a negative impact on how they view the separation.
Seek Out Legal Advice
This should be the first thing you do once you are sure that the marriage will not work, and with the help of an online search, you should be able to locate an established law practice within your local community. A good family lawyer offers a lot more than simply legal representation, and would be able to advise you on how best to ensure that your children are well provided for. In the event you and your partner have differing ideas on how best to achieve this, you can argue your case through your lawyer and hopefully, your partner will see that you are merely trying to safeguard the children’s future and come to an amicable agreement.
Setting Up a Trust for the Children
For many parents, this is the preferred way to ensure a secure financial future for their children and this is something your family lawyer can advise on. Whatever your financial situation, there are provisions you can make for the children’s future and your lawyer is the person to talk to regarding this.
If both parents don’t lose sight of their objectives and are reasonable with each other, there’s no reason why an amicable arrangement can’t be reached and as far as the kids are concerned, nothing has really changed.