Children

CHILD CUSTODY AGREEMENTS AND PARENTING PLANS

Will I still get to spend holidays with my child? Will I see him on his birthday?
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JOINT CUSTODY AGREEMENTS

If you have children and you’re going through a divorce, you will need arrange their care and think about how they are going to spend meaningful time with each of you. These issues are formally referred to as child custody.
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CHILD SUPPORT MEDIATION – KEEPING YOUR CHILDREN CENTRAL

Will I Have to Pay Child Support? How much will I get in Child Support? How is Child Support Calculated?
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CHILD CENTERED DIVORCE AND MEDIATION

In a child-centered divorce, we keep the needs of all children in the marriage central to the discussion, focusing not only on protecting them from harm but on maximizing opportunities to strengthen their sense of well-being and security.
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PARENTING: A triumph for the best interests of the child.

The Overruling of Baures by the NJ Appellate Court
{7:12 minutes to read} Relocation is among the most difficult family law issues for families and courts. Relocation is when the parent with sole or primary residential custody chooses to move out of state with the children.
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IF I CAN WAIVE ALIMONY, WHY CAN’T I WAIVE CHILD SUPPORT?

Fair question. Here’s why: Alimony and child support are two different things and are treated differently under the law. Alimony might be a right of a spouse, but child support is the right of a child.
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ANGER & VITRIOL – AND WHAT TO DO ABOUT THEM IN DIVORCE

Yes, you’re mad as hell and you’re not gonna take it anymore! That’s what divorce is for. While it’s a normal reaction to refuse, resist and rebel against a divorce that wasn’t wanted, or make a final stand against all the inequities suffered in the marriage gone off track, this—this spot of hostility and righteous indignation—is not a place to set up camp and most certainly is not a location from which to act!
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SUNDAYS, BLOODY SUNDAYS

Sundays are not known to be the bright spot of the week. Sundays, especially Sunday evenings, can be bleak for everyone, but they can be particularly difficult for the newly divorced. On Sundays, the weekend shuts its eyes, and only Monday gleams on the horizon.
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THE MAGIC OF THE WINTER PICNIC

DIVORCE, MONEY AND HOW [MUCH] TO INSULATE THE CHILDREN
One winter evening, when I was five, my mother announced we would be having a picnic for dinner. It was winter and dark outside, so I was dubious. She was unassailable. She spread out our regular picnic blanket in the living room by the fireplace, and when my father came home, the three of us ate a picnic-style dinner. The experience of eating with my parents on a picnic blanket on the floor on a regular weeknight for no purposeful reason at all was magical to me.
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WHOSE SIDE ARE WE ON? THE SAME SIDE!

Not long ago, I heard something fairly remarkable in my mediation session. To set the scene (semi-fictionalized for the sake of confidentiality), last spring, my clients had an issue with childcare and had to bring their children—an 8-year-old boy and 9-year-old girl—along to mediation. While I don’t recommend it, in the particular circumstances, it was a reasonable option for these children.
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PARENTAL ALIENATION—RIGHT HERE ON EARTH

Parental alienation occurs when one parent hinders or disrupts, even poisons the relationship between the child and the other (usually non-custodial) parent. It occurs when a parent (or both parents) disparages the other parent or prevents contact between the child and the other parent.
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CREATING A HEALTHY DIVORCE NARRATIVE FOR YOUR KIDS

There are a lot of recommendations about how to tell your children you are getting divorced. This article concentrates on what to convey to your kids afterand about the divorce, and the reasons for your divorce in an ongoing way. In mediation, I counsel divorcing and post-divorce clients on this topic.
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PARENTIFICATION

Childhood, until the mid-18th century, it is commonly believed, was not conceptualized as a particular stage in life. As reflected in pre-19th-century child portraiture, children were depicted, through dress and context, as miniature adults.
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GOING WITHOUT AND GOING WITHIN

One of the challenges of divorce is going without. Almost everyone goes through a monetary strain during divorce because running two households costs close to twice as much as running one (about 40% more). This translates into limiting expenditures and implementing new “no”s. Parents may be especially concerned about the kind of effect these “new no”s may have on their children.
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