Helping Children Cope With A Breakup: Six Tips From Our Fort Lauderdale Parenting Plan Lawyer
Breakups are challenging for everyone involved. If you have children, they may struggle to understand what’s happening, act out in different ways, or even blame themselves.
As experienced Fort Lauderdale divorce lawyers, protecting children is our top priority. Find out common problems they face and how to best support them when making child time-sharing arrangements.
How Fort Lauderdale Parenting Plans Impact Children
The Florida Statutes generally encourage child time-sharing for divorced and single parents. Florida parenting plans detail each parent’s rights and responsibilities.
Fort Lauderdale parenting plans dictate where the child lives, plans for holidays, school breaks, and vacations, and who makes decisions on their behalf regarding education, religious training, health care, and other essential matters.
Parenting plans form the basis for a child time-sharing order, which both parents must follow. Problems concerning children that often arise in this situation include:
- Poor communication between the parents and child, which creates confusion and resentment;
- Not factoring in the child’s school, extracurricular, and social schedules when making a parenting plan;
- Using the child to relay messages and making negative remarks about the other parent, creating additional pressure on the child and causing them to question their loyalty to one parent or another;
- Not accounting for the stress the child experiences in adjusting to this new situation and how it can cause them to become anxious, depressed, or act out.
Showing Support For Your Children While Making Time-Sharing Arrangements In Fort Lauderdale
Helping your child cope with all the changes surrounding a breakup and supporting them when implementing parenting plans in Fort Lauderdale requires patience and understanding. To take a proactive approach, follow these six tips:
- Negotiate child time-sharing arrangements to avoid more contentious Broward County Family Court hearings and protect your child’s privacy.
- Using age-appropriate language, explain what is currently happening to your child and what to expect moving forward, and emphasize that they are not to blame.
- Consider the child’s needs and schedule when creating a parenting plan, and allow older children to provide input.
- Encourage your child to express their feelings, validate their anger, sadness, or other emotions, and let them know you care and are there for them.
- Stick close to their usual routines as much as possible to provide stability.
- Reassure them of your love, consistently remind children that both you and their other parent will continue to care for them, and refrain from bad-mouthing the other parent or using the child to relay messages.
Get The Support You Need From Our Fort Lauderdale Child Time-Sharing Lawyer
Negotiating child time-sharing arrangements and implementing parenting plans can pose significant challenges. While you provide the support your child needs during this difficult time, our Fort Lauderdale child time-sharing lawyer offers the caring, comprehensive legal service you need to protect your rights.
Vanessa L. Prieto is a highly skilled professional and a trusted legal advocate for families in Broward County. To request a consultation at our Fort Lauderdale office, call or contact us online today.
Sources:
leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0000-0099/0061/Sections/0061.13.html
flcourts.gov/content/download/686031/file_pdf/995a.pdf
