Many Michigan children struggle emotionally when their parents decide to split up. While there’s no way to completely mitigate the emotional distress that results from a divorce, there are a number of ways that people may be able to help their kids deal with it. Some of the ways include picking the right time to announce a split and considering a mediated divorce.
When deciding when to announce a divorce, parents may want to consider whether it will be better for the child to spend time with parents or be distracted. For instance, if parents think kids will need to be reassured, announcing the divorce over a holiday may be a good choice. If kids might do better without focusing on the issue all the time, it may be better to tell kids during the school year.
Another option for making things easier for kids during a divorce is to attempt to make the process as uncontentious as possible. A mediated divorce is one where a couple works together to agree on how to decide issues related to a divorce, such as child support, asset division and alimony. This is usually quicker than a litigated divorce, and people are able to define their terms for a divorce instead of leaving it up to a judge.
Michigan divorce attorneys will often tell their clients that the goal of a child custody and visitation agreement is the best interests of their children. To that end, they often try to help their clients come to an accord through negotiations rather than having to go through a bitter court battle.