Advice to People Going Through Divorce Attorney in New York, New York
Informing Children of Divorce
Informing Children of Divorce
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You always want to be honest and transparent with your children. A good parent child relationship takes into account an interaction by which the children can rely and feel comfortable with going forward. With that said, you don’t want to disparage the other parent with details that are relevant to the divorce, but are irrelevant to the parent child relationship.
One of the concerns that we have is that if in the event the parents are unable to agree on the issues concerning either child custody or parenting time or decision making is that a court, after a period of time where the parties can’t negotiate a settlement, may appoint first an attorney for the child. And then possibly a forensic examination as to how the family system operated.
So it’s always important to make sure that you’re honest and you’re transparent. However, you don’t want to be so honest and so transparent that you’re damaging the other parent’s relationship with your child. In fact, you want to be sure that as honest and transparent as you are, that you are also promoting that child’s relationship or the children’s relationship with the other parent. That is what is expected of you.
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New York, NY divorce attorney, Ken Jewell talks about what is reasonable to share with your children when discussing divorce. He remarks that honesty and transparency with children are always paramount. A strong parent-child relationship is built on consistent interactions that allow the children to feel secure and comfortable as they move forward. At the same time, he advises parents to avoid disparaging the other parent by sharing details of the divorce that may be irrelevant to the parent-child relationship.
He notes that one significant concern arises when parents cannot reach an agreement on custody, parenting time, or decision-making. In such cases, a court may eventually appoint an attorney for the child, and in some instances, order a forensic evaluation to assess how the family system is functioning.
For this reason, he stresses the importance of being honest and transparent without damaging the child’s relationship with the other parent. The goal, he explains, is to ensure that openness with the child also fosters and supports their relationship with both parents, as that is what the court expects.
