Bringing the Child’s Needs to the Forefront During a Parental Conflict
Children who are caught in the middle of parental conflicts experience a whole gamut of emotions from shock to bewilderment to despair. It is often difficult to shield a child from this ugly scuffle, but it must be done as much as possible to lessen its impact on the child’s social development.
Avoid Using Your Child as a Pawn in the Parental Conflict
Some parents tend to be overprotective of their children in an attempt to discredit the other parent. They want their children to view the other parent in a negative light. Some do this as a way to punish their exes for the emotional turmoil that they have gone through.
Doing this can backfire if the other party seeks the court’s intervention, claiming that the one who has custody for the child is planting malicious information in the child’s mind. And if the court honors this complaint, one has no choice but to go through another stressful round of hearings and investigations.
Children are Always on the Losing End of the Parental Conflict
The sad truth about the divorce is that children are always on the losing end. It’s bad enough that both parents are going their separate ways. Prolonging the conflict would just further inflict damage on the child’s fragile mind.
If a parent is prevented from seeing his or her child due to proven history of abuse, then it is well within the rights of the custodial parent to protect the child through parental alienation. In these cases, the child must express a strong dislike to see or maintain contact with the the non-custodial parent.
Most of the time, non-custodial parents are granted visiting rights depending on the arrangement with the custodial parent. Both parents must strive to come to a resolution as soon as possible so as not to drag the child into a heated mess that would scar him or her forever.
Understanding the Child’s Rights
The issue of custody is centered around the child, not on the parents. Everyone must keep the child’s best interests in mind when making critical decisions. These decisions affect the child’s upbringing and must be looked at every angle so as not to rob the child of his or her childhood.
By the default, it is the child’s birthright to have a meaningful relationship with both parents. As long as there is no abuse involved, the court may approve joint physical custody wherein both parents are afforded the right to have the child live with him or her depending on the arrangement. Divorce is a convoluted process that involves not only dividing assets and properties but also settling child custody. Both parents are expected to be on their best behavior during this process to avoid parental conflict.
A family lawyer can help guide you through the difficult process that lay ahead. At Fine & Associates our family and divorce lawyers are ready to answer any questions that you may have.