Helping Your Children During Your Divorce

Legal Services At

Stange Law Firm

  • Family Law
  • Support
  • Military Divorce
  • Child Custody
  • Divorce | Separation
  • Family Violence
  • Alternative Dispute Resolution
  • Property Division
  • High Net Worth Divorce
Helping Your Children During Your Divorce
Couples getting a divorce often worry about the impact on their children. Breaking the news, and helping children deal with their emotions and new routines may be challenging. Parents, however, may use a variety of strategies to make the transition easier.

Telling the Children

To minimize distress and uncertainty, children should know about the divorce earlier in the process instead of at the last minute. Experts give the following tips for the often difficult conversation with the children:

  • Tell the children together
  • Keep it simple and avoid going into details about each other’s faults
  • Emphasize that the divorce is not the children’s fault
  • Make sure the children understand that both parents still love them, and will always be involved in their lives

Regardless of which parent gets custody, it is very important to provide the children with a predictable, supportive and loving environment in each home.

Making the Transition Easier

Once the divorce is underway, experts provide the following suggestions for making the transition smoother:

  • Be upfront about changes: with two homes comes new routines and possibly tighter finances, set realistic expectations for children
  • Let children express their feelings: children often bottle emotions up, not wanting to put more stress on their parents
  • Minimize stress on the children: avoid speaking negatively about your ex around your children, and don’t burden children with problems between you and your ex

Parents may also want to reach out to teachers and ask for help in monitoring how the children are doing. Teachers may recognize changes in children’s behavior and performance at school.

If a child becomes depressed, more aggressive or uncooperative, experts recommend contacting the child’s pediatrician for a referral to a child psychologist. In addition to therapy for the child, the psychologist can also advise parents on how to make the divorce easier on the family.

If couples make efforts to consider their children’s needs, and work together as co-parents, there is no reason that children can’t continue to lead normal and happy lives after a divorce.

book-prenup-1

Prenuptial Agreements Line by Line

Aspatore Books from Thomson Reuters Westlaw
book-military-1

Strategies For Family Law Illinois

Aspatore Books from Thomson Reuters Westlaw
book-family-1

Strategies For Military Family Law

Aspatore Books from Thomson Reuters Westlaw

Protect Yourself By Understanding Your Options and Knowing Your Rights

GET HELP NOW

SLF Icon

MAIN OFFICE LOCATION

Stange Law Firm, PC

120 S. Central Avenue, Suite 450

St. Louis (Clayton), Missouri 63105

Toll Free: 855-805-0595
Fax: 314-963-9191
Group 144

DIVORCE HEADQUATERS APP

Contact Our Team

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Family Law Legal Services At Your Fingertips

FEATURED ARTICLES FROM THE STANGE LAW TEAM

When you choose us, you don’t have to sacrifice quality or service. You get the resources of a large family law firm AND the attentive service of a local attorney.

Should I Text My Lawyer?

Text messages (also known as SMS, short message service) are a common way of communicating. Instead of picking up the phone or drafting an email,

Read More
The Collaborative Divorce Process

•pull quote from Kirk out of video •other call outs •graph, table or other chart The Collaborative Divorce Process-Overview Collaborative divorce is a voluntary, contractually

Read More