How to Protect Your Family During a Divorce
When a spouse files for divorce, it might come as a long-awaited event or complete surprise. Most of the time, the question that comes to everyone’s mind is “what about the children?” In all possible cases, there are steps that each party needs to take to protect themselves, the children, finances, and the family in general.
Divorce doesn’t mean emptying your bank account or stripping your family of its home. It involves working together with your partner to keep your families in touch even if you are no longer together. After all, divorce is associated with problems for teenagers such as aggression, poor peer relation, poor academic performance, among others.
Research shows that although divorce can affect children, it is the fight among parents that affects them the most. This therefore calls for parents to divorce amicably without involving children in their issues. However, it is not easy to achieve this kind of divorce. This means there are right steps you must take to keep your family happy even after divorce.
Handling Your Children
There are things that you might fail to agree with your spouse in your divorce. In most cases, you might find yourself in court. You will be forced to look for a competent child or family attorney. If you are looking for a child law solicitor in Cardiff, consider Grant Stephens Family Law.
To protect your children during divorce, you should never criticize your spouse in their presence. Since children know that they are “part dad” and “part mom” the criticism can destroy their self-esteem. It is also wrong to use children as messengers to your spouse. The less you involve children, the better for them.
As a parent, it is important to reassure the children that both of you still love them, and it is not their fault that they are divorced. You should also encourage them to see your former partner in case you are not staying together. Always put the interests your children before yours. It is also important to comply with child support.
Family Home and Property
Even after a divorce, you should do things right as far as the family properties and house are concerned. You should never leave your home too soon. First, this may negatively impact children and ruin the relationship with your partner completely. It might also affect custody. However, you should understand that overstaying may further strain the relationship with your partner. You can consider:
- Time-sharing your house to avoid issues
- Sleeping in different rooms at night
You must remember that you all have equal rights to your children. You should never take your children or allow your partner to take them from the family home. Your spouse should understand that they are free to leave, but they should never take children with them. As an alternative, consider time-sharing as it works best in such cases.
You should make a clear recording of your marital property. This might involve using a video recording. If possible, consider involving your partner in the exercise. This is to enable you to identify any property that goes missing from the house. You should prioritize securing the most valuable properties. All in all, these properties might even help your children.