Family and Parenting

How do Children see Step-parents?

How do Children see Step-parents?

A single divorce is hard enough on children, but second marriages have a higher risk for divorce than first marriages. How do children think about multiple sets of step-parents? That’s what scientists at University of Missouri College of Human Environmental Sciences decided to study.
They interv…

8 Rules for Co-Parenting Success

8 Rules for Co-Parenting Success

Any successful co-parenting relationship needs structure. These structures can keep things cool and civil between you and your ex so you can focus on your children. Whether you’re married or not, your children are learning about you and about relationships by seeing how you act with each other.

Woman Keeps Child from Husband for 25 Years

Woman Keeps Child from Husband for 25 Years

People sometimes do shocking things during a divorce trial, but sometimes they come out of very good reasons. In cases of abuse or molestation, a parent may do anything to keep themselves and their children state, including defying court orders.
One woman went so far as to change her and her dau…

How to Tell the Kids You are Getting a Divorce

A Strategy for Supervised Visitation

Different states have different strategies for helping parents deal with custodial issues. When parents are required to have supervised visitation, the chances for negative feelings to come out are very high. All parents want the right to visit their children without feeling like they’re going to…

Residential Time and Child Support are Different Things

Residential Time and Child Support are Different Things

Divorce issues surrounding a child revolve around three major components: custody, child support, and residential time (sometimes called visitation in other states). A parent that has custody of the child means that the child will live with them and that they will be responsible for the child’s w…

Insurance Windfalls May Affect Child Support

Insurance Windfalls May Affect Child Support

Sometimes a person that owes child support gets an unexpected windfall that isn’t linked to their job. An inheritance, lottery winnings, or an insurance claim for instance. How much of that should go to the children? Different states have different opinions on this.
In California, there is a vol…

Should Couples Stay Together for the Sake of the Children?

Should Couples Stay Together for the Sake of the Children?

Children of divorce are deeply impacted by the experience. According to Nicholas Wolfinger, author of Understanding the Divorce Cycle: The Children of Divorce in Their Own Marriages, the divorce rate of a child’s future marriage when one parent divorces is 50% higher. If both parents come from fo…

Elise Buie Family Law  |  Changes Proposed to Custody Laws

Elise Buie Family Law | Changes Proposed to Custody Laws

About 20 states across the US are currently considering proposed legislation that would alter the procedures for determining which parent will retain legal and physical control of a child following a divorce or separation.

“Witnessing Change”

“Witnessing Change”

I had one of those wonderful moments as an attorney, friend, mom, divorced mom, human when I watched a client learn how to communicate with her soon-to-be ex in a way that was constructive, respectful and “forward focused.”  She even said “Thanks” when I wrote her a firm note to “stop” the past c…