Holidays can be especially tricky to navigate as a newly divorced couple. It takes time to settle into the new normal — for you, your ex, and your children — and the holidays can be a great time for each of you to set new traditions that work for the shift in your family situation.…
Divorce and Children
Divorce Hits Children In Higher-Income Families The Hardest, Study Says
As the divorce rate began to rise in the 1960s and level off in the early 1980s, the face of American families underwent major reconstruction, leaving individuals and psychologists alike wondering: How are the children faring? Well, aside from the rich ones, it seems the kids are alright. The new research, which came out of…
How Divorced Parents Lost Their Rights
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — MY wife and I disagree, sometimes vehemently, about how best to raise our four children. She’s a lawyer, and I am sure the thought of suing me has crossed her mind once or twice. But she cannot. American courts consistently refuse to entertain child-rearing disputes between married parents. In 1936, the New…
Home schooling and child custody
When parents split up, and there is a dispute over who is to get primary custody, judges generally decide this based on what they see as “the best interests of the child.” One recurring question is whether a judge may consider the ideology that a parent is teaching the child— for instance, may a judge…
Hey, Divorced Parents, How About Going Beyond Civility?
I’m living with my ex-husband again. It’s not what you think. When we married in the spring of 1998, before wedding registries were online and photos were still shot on film, our chances of staying together forever looked pretty darn good. Great, in fact. We were 26-year-old college graduates who had dated for four years,…
Getting Divorced? What Can You Do For Your Children?
Divorce and what leads up to it are not tidy and polite affairs. The children who bear witness to the demise of their parents’ marriage inevitably get wounded — some very deeply and invisibly at first. No matter how old a child is when his/her parents’ divorce occurs, the child learns a life lesson about…
Children of divorce grieving their losses
In my last two columns, I addressed the grief and loss process experienced by couples during separation and divorce. But what do the children experience? At a time when so many marriages fail, it is important to understand how youngsters are affected by the loss. Children of divorcing parents go through the same four stages…
Streamlining the Child Support Modification Process in Massachusetts
In May 2013, the Massachusetts Probate and Family Court expanded Standing Order 3-11, which streamlines the child support modification process in Massachusetts. Through this Standing Order, parents can now complete more user-friendly forms to file for a child support modification with the Probate and Family Court, and also obtain a faster court date to obtain…
New Child Support Guidelines in Massachusetts
On June 20, 2013, the Massachusetts Probate and Family Court released new Child Support Guidelines that become effective August 1, 2013. The new Child Support Guidelines revise the Guidelines issued in 2009, and modify several provisions from the 2009 Guidelines. Below is a summary of the changes to the new Child Support Guidelines. Sources of…
Child Custody and Removal in Massachusetts
It is not uncommon after (or even during) a divorce, a parent seeks to move outside of Massachusetts with the couple’s children. Not only does this impact the custody arrangement between parents, but it can impact the relationship between the children and both parents as well. Because the impact such a move can have between…
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