National Child-Centered Divorce Awareness Month in January: Wells Family Law Celebrates~ 1 min read

January is National Child-Centered Divorce Awareness Month. Children who are put in the middle of the conflict during divorce can experience all sorts of trauma which may manifest itself in academic difficulties, emotional upheaval, cognitive impairment and social conflicts. Forcing children into a “loyalty bind” by making them feel as if they have to choose between their parents is something that divorce attorneys see on a regular basis. It is heartbreaking to watch how some parents, intentionally or otherwise, put their children’s mental and physical well-being at risk during a break-up.

Determine What Is Most Important

Parents who are able to set aside their anger and remain child-focused during their divorce, emphasizing their children’s best interests, reassuring children that they are not to blame, refusing to put children in the middle, and permitting the children the ability to openly love both parents through and after divorce, are likely to see children who fare far better through the divorce process than parents who focus on “winning” or “beating” the other side.

A Child-Centered Approach to Divorce

One option for ensuring that your divorce is child-centered is to explore Collaborative Divorce as an alternative to a litigated solution. In a Collaborative Divorce, the goal is to provide parents with a process where they can come to agreements together with the assistance of a Collaboratively-trained team of attorneys, a facilitator, and appropriate experts without involving the children in conflict. Parents who are able to come to agreements together outside of court are more likely to be able to co-parent children in the future. Focusing on protecting children in divorce is one of the ways that Wells Family Law helps Colorado families.