Family Law – In Seven parts

  Part 1- Introduction to Co-Parenting. Parents enduring a divorce are often puzzled by the buzz-word “Co-Parenting.” I have read psychological studies that find divorce as one of the worst things you can experience as an adult. Worse even than the death of a spouse. If your spouse dies, there is a funeral, grieving and a chance to move on with your life. In divorce, your former spouse may be legally dead to you, but they are still walking around (kind of a weird living dead thing), especially if you are parents. While in the midst of a heart-rending divorce, being a “Co-Anything” with the spouse you are divorcing doesn’t make sense. Your spouse has hurt you beyond reason and while feelings of hurt, betrayal, and revenge, the judge will often order you to attend a “Co-Parenting Seminar.” What’s that all about? Co-Parenting is just the latest way to formulate something that I used to tell divorcing parents when I was a Judge: “You can divorce each other, just don’t divorce your kids!” Even in the most heated divorces, most of us can agree that the divorce is not the kid's fault. Yet, it is the kids who often pay a heavy price for divorce. They can be viewed as trophies whose custody is “won” or “lost.” They can be wooed or threatened to “pick sides” in the divorce. The other parent can be blamed for financial hardship for the child (“Daddy just doesn’t love you enough to pay his child support”). And many other ways to...