Custody & Parenting

If you and your child’s other parent are going your separate ways, you are likely both concerned about being able to maintain – and possibly even strengthen – the bonds that each of you has with your child as you navigate this major family transition. One approach...

Co-parenting is always a unique and, often, complicated experience. In many ways, you can distance yourself from the difficulties that affected your marriage. This distance may allow you to give your children more personalized attention and may allow your parenting...

When divorcing parents have teens, they too often make the mistake of not giving much thought to their parenting plan. They work out the custody schedule to determine where their child will sleep on which nights and how they’ll divide their time during school breaks....

The topic of divorce was likely difficult to bring up with your spouse, but it may be even harder to talk to your children about it. You shouldn’t delay talking to them, since, eventually, they’ll learn that you and your spouse are getting a divorce.  So, how do you...

Ideally, both parents should be involved in raising the children after the divorce. However, it is not always possible due to various reasons. If you feel your children are not safe when they are with your co-parent, you can seek full or sole custody. When one parent...

As a parent, your top priority is the well-being of your children. This is something that the family court will also prioritize in custody cases.  Typically, the family court prefers both parents to be actively involved in the upbringing of the child. That said, there...

Parents who adopt a child likely think their marriage is going to last forever. If something happens and the marriage dissolves, they may wonder what divorce will be like with an adopted child. Child custody matters with children who are adopted are handled the exact...

One of the best things that parents can do when they go through a divorce is to ensure that the children are properly cared for. This requires that the parents put the children first and make all decisions based on what’s best for them.  The parenting plan is the...

The end of a marriage is a trying time for anyone. When you share children with each other, you have to make sure that you’re taking care of them. What many people don’t realize is the tone they set for the divorce can have an impact on the child custody situation. ...

Washington laws about custody do not reference the sex of the parents involved. Despite some people claiming that mothers receive preferential consideration, the law wants a judge to keep the focus on the best interests of the children. Decades of research have helped...