Category Archives: Child Custody
Can Your Ex-Spouse Micromanage Your Childcare Arrangements?
As stressful as it can be to co-parent after divorce, a parenting plan can help you bring order out of chaos. You have it in writing that, during even-numbered years, the children are with you for the duration of Thanksgiving weekend. This means that, if your ex-spouse shows up on the morning of Black… Read More »
What Happens If Your Ex-Spouse Doesn’t Follow The Parenting Plan?
If you do not pay the amount of child support that the court has ordered you to pay, you can get in big trouble. Not only are you responsible for all your overdue child support payments until you pay them, but the court can garnish your paychecks, suspend your driver’s license, and even send… Read More »
How To Survive Your First Holiday After Divorce
The signs of the holiday season are already upon us, the supermarket displays with jars of nutmeg lined up next to rectangular plastic boxes of crispy fried onions, the food-themed decorations everywhere. The holidays can be a source of family stress regardless of your marital status; even if you and your siblings don’t fight… Read More »
How Much Do Children’s Opinions Count In Parenting Time Decisions?
Based on the principle of selfless love, you should want your children to be as happy during their time with your ex-spouse as they are during their time with you. The family courts do not expect you to be a perfect parent or to possess superhuman altruism, but they do expect you not to… Read More »
How To Make Co-Parenting Changeovers Easier For Children
Parents and kids alike worry about how difficult the adjustment will be for children to divide their time between their parents’ separate houses. The worst-case scenario, where neither house feels like home, rarely happens, but children feel the stress of co-parenting as acutely as their parents do. They might spend certain days of the… Read More »
Can Your Ex-Spouse Force You To Pay For Your Children’s Summer Camp?
When your 13-year-old daughter stayed at your house last weekend, she was excited about the prospect of participating in a STEM enrichment program in her school district in the summer. She was looking forward to spending the summer learning algebra and building a contraption that would enable a raw egg to land safely after… Read More »
The Right Of First Refusal And Co-Parenting In Alabama
All divorced couples who have minor children together must have a parenting plan. It covers all of the parenting decisions except the financial ones, including which parent has the final decision about the children’s non-emergency medical care and extracurricular activities at school. Most of the provisions of the parenting plan have to do with… Read More »
Can Different Children In The Same Family Have Different Custody Arrangements?
Divorce is hard for everyone, but it is the hardest for families with minor children. Divorce lawyers and mediators will tell you that there is no one-size-fits-all solution for co-parenting. You might know a family that has a harmonious co-parenting relationship to which you could only aspire, and you might know another family where… Read More »
Can My Child Choose Who To Live With In An Alabama Divorce?
If you haven’t been through a divorce, it’s hard to express how truly devastating it can feel. The process of emotionally un-enmeshing is one thing, but having to physically dismantle the life you have built, including your family home and the loved ones in it, evokes a whole different level of difficulty. It can… Read More »
Creating A Time-Sharing Schedule For Active Duty Military Parents
Custody is never an easy issue. Creating a time-sharing schedule that works for both parents can be impossible even under normal circumstances. When one or both parents are active-duty service members this completely changes the metrics, and can make it hard to ensure that care is available for the child at all times. However,… Read More »