As a divorcing parent, one of your priorities will be deciding on a pattern of custody and parenting time that is workable for your child, yourself and your co-parent. It is crucial to remember that not all of the year follows the same pattern for your children. Most...
Custody & Parenting
Can you move if you share custody of your children?
After a divorce, many couples still share custody of their children. This can include physical custody, meaning the child lives with each parent on a specific schedule. This can create some problems, especially if one of the parents wants to move or relocate. If you...
Can a teen refuse to spend time with one parent?
A divorce can have a major impact on family dynamics. Not only does it drastically alter the relationship between the spouses, but it can exacerbate strain in parent-child relationships. Children and teenagers sometimes take sides when their parents divorce. Often,...
Can parents limit childcare options in a shared custody scenario?
Having children means accepting responsibility for their health and well-being. Parents have to provide shelter and other basic forms of support for their children. They also need to make arrangements for other people to care for their children when they are not...
What to know about abusive parental gatekeeping
Parental alienation is the process of manipulating a child to distance them from their other parent. Alienation is often used to lay the foundation for a child custody modification that limits or even completely eliminates the other parent’s contact with the child....
How birdnesting can benefit divorcing parents
There are many different types of custody arrangements and property division settlements that couples can negotiate. Typically, parents share custody by having the children travel back and forth between their homes. They either agree for one parent to retain the...
What does “the best interests of the child” mean?
While every family's circumstances are different, the legal factors that determine custody rulings are similar. The central principle in all custody cases in Washington state is the child's best interests. There is no single definition of the child's best interests,...
How can divorcing parents manage gifts for their children?
However much you tell your children that Christmas and birthdays are not just about the gifts they receive, in most cases, the gifts will matter to them. Maybe your children can’t sleep for excitement as they wonder what they will unwrap on Christmas morning. Or...
Tips for co-parenting with a narcissist
People who are co-parenting have to make joint decisions often. This can be challenging, even in the best of circumstances, but it’s much more difficult when one parent is narcissistic. Dealing with a narcissist means having to figure out how to work with a person...
What should co-parents consider as the holiday season approaches?
The last few months of the year are filled with holidays that are widely celebrated in the United States. Each one of these is a potential point of contention for divorced parents because they may each have their own ideas about how those days should be handled with...