With the chaos typical during a divorce, it can be easy to let certain traditions fall through the cracks. One common tradition that often falls by the wayside is the family dinner. However, family dinners after divorce can be an important part of the recovery process for everyone, including your ex. Here are a few reasons why.
Stanley, 73 years old, recently passed away. He never married or had any children. Stanley lived alone in his home and was self-sufficient until his health began to decline last year. Not wishing to burden his nieces and nephews, Stanley took it upon himself to hire a home health aide to come to his home and care for him. The pandemic restrictions prevented his niece, Cathy, with whom he had always had a close relationship, from visiting him. However, she called often. She even made an effort to see him but was only allowed window visits by the care worker and never provided the opportunity for in-person visits before his death. Cathy had no idea her uncle was being neglected and abused. To prevent a similar scenario from happening to you or someone you love, here’s what you should know.
The percentage of children who live in a single-parent household has increased significantly. While estate planning for single parents is similar to estate planning for families with two parents, you should take special consideration and outline specific provisions in your estate plan if you’re a single parent due to death, divorce, or life choice. If you’re a single parent, estate planning should become a high priority.
Children often act out during a divorce. Some behaviors are more noticeable than others, meaning subtle changes in your child can slip past you if you’re not looking for them. It’s not surprising how this can happen. When you go through the divorce process, it may feel as though your world is moving a mile a minute, and you’re struggling just to keep up. Divorce involves rebuilding your life, home, and sometimes career, all while negotiating the dissolution of your marriage. Because of this, it’s easy not to be cognizant of how your children are holding up.
The only guarantee we have in life is that we’re all going to die someday. If we’re lucky enough, we’ll do this when we’re old, slipping peacefully away in our sleep. But, inevitably, it will happen to each of us regardless of age or health. Unfortunately, too many people pass away without addressing their estate planning and die without leaving a will. Dying without a will, referred to as intestate, is just one of the issues that can come from not addressing your estate planning while you’re alive.
As if co-parenting during a pandemic wasn’t complicated enough, a lot of parents have a new worry to add to their plates: a widely controversial COVID-19 vaccine.
You’d be surprised at how what you say and how you say it can make or break a discussion. As a family and divorce lawyer, writer, communicator, and a once-divorced (I’ve since remarried) co-parenting mom myself, I know how the slightest alteration in my speech can produce a different outcome in a conversation. Those “alternative endings,” in turn, can do a lot of damage by derailing my day, my week, and, most significantly, negatively impact my children’s lives in a very profound and direct manner. That’s why I’m careful about how I speak to my ex. And he’s not even a bad guy.
You’re getting divorced, and it’s the first time you’ve been single in years. You’re thinking about starting to date but are wondering whether this is a good idea or not. You anticipate your divorce taking a while, and worry about putting your dating life on hold for months, even years. So how do you decide if now’s the right time to dip your toe in the dating pool?
You’re at lunch with your friends. Or on the phone with your mother. You get to talking about what a jerk your spouse is and how you wish you weren’t with them anymore. You rattle off a laundry list of reasons why you can’t stand them. In isolation, none of the reasons seem too bad. Taken together, the thought of this person walking through the door at night sickens you to the point of contempt. And you haven’t even gotten to the quality of your sex life — or lack of it.
I’m thankful that my kids got most of what they wanted for Christmas from my ex and me growing up. The same went for my second husband’s kids. And it wasn’t because we went on a shopping spree to fill their wishlist to Santa. What we gave them didn’t cost a dime. And that was the gift of choice.