As a parent, making sure your children are healthy, happy, and safe is among your top priorities in life. You spend as much time with your children as you can, and you put their wants and needs above your own as often as possible.
This can make the decision to get divorced extremely difficult.
A divorce is disruptive for the whole family. No matter how much you do to shield your children from the process, their lives are going to change. You are going to have to make some very difficult decisions—and this includes decisions that will have a profound impact on your children.
So, what can you do to protect your children during (and after) the divorce process?
5 Tips for Divorcing Parents in Arizona
There are several steps that divorcing parents can take to protect their children during (and after) the divorce process in Arizona. While every family’s circumstances are unique, many parents will find the following tips useful for ensuring that the impacts of their divorce on their children are no greater than necessary:
1. Focus on Achieving an Efficient and Amicable Resolution
In the vast majority of circumstances, when going through a divorce in Arizona, focusing on achieving an efficient and amicable resolution will be in the best interests of everyone involved. This includes not only you and your spouse but also your children. The longer the process takes, the longer it will play a role in your children’s day-to-day lives. Likewise, while contentious divorces are more likely to have harmful effects, working with your spouse to find a mutually agreeable path forward can help set the stage for long-term comfort, contentment, and stability.
How can you focus on achieving an efficient and amicable resolution? In Arizona, divorcing spouses have a few options available. These include:
- Negotiating an Amicable Divorce – In many cases, divorcing spouses can work with their respective divorce lawyers to amicably negotiate a divorce settlement agreement without the need for outside help or dispute resolution.
- Divorce Mediation – When divorcing spouses are willing to work together but need help finding a mutually agreeable path forward, divorce mediation can be a highly effective (and cost-effective) solution.
- Collaborative Divorce – Pursuing a collaborative divorce is another alternative to taking your divorce to court. If you and your spouse have complex issues that you need to address, a collaborative divorce could be a good option.
2. Put Your Children’s Interests First (But Don’t Forget About Yourself)
One of the best ways you can protect your children during the divorce process is by thinking about how your actions and decisions will affect them—whether now or in the future. If you put your children’s interests first, you can feel confident knowing that you made the best of the circumstances at hand.
With that said, it is important not to forget about yourself. Going through a divorce can be stressful, and it can take a heavy emotional toll—whether you realize it or not. Stress and frustration from the divorce process can spill over into your day-to-day life, and this can end up impacting your children. As a result, by prioritizing your own emotional well-being, you will be indirectly prioritizing your children’s emotional well-being as well.
3. Give Your Divorce the Time and Attention It Deserves
While it is important not to let the divorce process overwhelm you, it is also important to make sure you give your divorce the time and attention it deserves. If you overlook important considerations or make short-sighted decisions, this could negatively impact you and your children for years to come. As you work your way through the divorce process, you will want to ensure that you are making fully informed decisions about things like:
How can you ensure that you are making fully informed decisions with your children’s best interests (and your own best interests) in mind? The best way is to work closely with an experienced divorce lawyer. Beyond simply making sure that you consider all pertinent issues, an experienced divorce lawyer will be able to provide personalized advice while also providing invaluable insights for protecting your children.
4. Keep Your Children Out of the Middle
As a parent, one of the most important things you can do to protect your children during your divorce is to keep them out of the middle. While some older children may find a certain amount of comfort in knowing what is going on, generally speaking, children should not play a role in the divorce process at any age. Divorcing parents should not ask their children to pick sides or attempt to create distance between their children and their soon-to-be-former spouse; and, if divorcing parents are living separately, they should not use their children to relay messages between them.
5. Don’t Overlook Options that Offer Benefits for Your Children
Finally, as you work your way through the divorce process, it will be important not to overlook options that offer benefits for your children. For example, there are many alternatives to traditional child custody arrangements (such as co-parenting) that are generally considered better for children’s emotional well-being.
Additionally, while child support covers most typical child-related expenses until children reach age 18, divorcing parents will often find it beneficial to address additional financial considerations outside of their child support arrangement. Here, too, an experienced divorce lawyer can help, and we strongly recommend that parents speak with a divorce lawyer as early in the planning process as possible.
Schedule a Free Consultation with a Divorce Lawyer in Phoenix, AZ
Would you like to know more about what you can do to protect your children during the divorce process? If so, we can help, and we invite you to get in touch. To schedule a free consultation with a Phoenix divorce lawyer at Weingart Family Law, give us a call at (480) 401-5447 or tell us how we can reach you online today.