Inspired by Adele: Divorced Parents Should Take It Easy On Themselves Too

adele divorce

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Are you beating yourself up for getting divorced? Feeling guilty for dragging your kids through so many changes? Take a cue from singer Adele, who wrote her new song Easy On Me to help her son understand the reasons for her divorce and to ask him to forgive her for upending his life. Here, the singer talks about her motivation:

“I just felt like I wanted to explain to him, through this record, when he’s in his twenties or thirties, who I am and why I voluntarily chose to dismantle his entire life in the pursuit of my own happiness,” Adele told British Vogue in a recent interview. “It made him really unhappy sometimes. And that’s a real wound for me that I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to heal.”

Are you hiding onto to lots of guilt and shame in your divorce? Learn how to “take it easy” on yourself with these tips for reframing how you think about divorce. Read more

Can You And Your Ex Make A ‘Nesting’ Custody Arrangement Work?

nesting custodyNow that you and your spouse have decided to divorce, you need to determine which custody arrangement makes the most sense for your family, while providing stability for your children. If your co-parenting relationship is amicable, you may want to consider the child-centered approach “nesting.”  Read more

Tips For Co-Parenting Teens And Young Adults

teenager

Your teen has asked to spend more time with their other parent. Should you say yes?

As children mature during adolescence and their later teen years, they want their needs and opinions to be taken into account when parenting decisions must be made. For divorced parents, this can mean updating co-parenting philosophies you’ve followed since your kids were small. In order to support your kids’ personal growth, it’s helpful to understand the development stages of adolescence and early adulthood. Read more

Custody Advice For Brangelina — And You

Brad Pitt Angelina Jolie custody dispute

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Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, the impossibly gorgeous and talented movie stars who are the parents of a half dozen children, have been waging high-conflict divorce war for almost six years: Angelina filed in September 2016. But it’s not money that’s prolonging the battle; rather, the ex-couple appear to be embroiled in custody disputes with — so far — no resolution.

So what needs to happen for any high-conflict co-parents to reach an equitable agreement that supports their children’s well-being? Read more

Back to School 2021: What Divorced Parents Need to Know

back to school co-parenting 2021

With the first day of school now just a few weeks away, it’s time to get your school year co-parenting game plan together. This can mean deciding who buys the school supplies and back-to-school clothes, but with the Delta variant still surging, divorced co-parents must also grapple with extra layers of Covid-related prep this fall. Are you and your child’s co-parent pandemic-ready for the 2021 school year? 

Here’s what you need to know.   Read more

Divorce: Dealing With The Emotions Of The Entire Family

Divorce can be hard on every member of the family when feelings go unaddressed. Men and women tend to express emotions differently and children may act out their feelings in ways that are hard to understand. Let’s take a look at some of the emotions members of your family are likely to experience during this difficult time — and how best to cope with them. Read more

What happens when divorced parents disagree about their children getting the Covid-19 vaccine? 

This week the FDA approved emergency use of the Covid-19 vaccine for children ages 12-15 years old. Vaccinating children can be a controversial decision for many parents; for divorced co-parents, there are even more added layers of complexity. Namely, if one parent doesn’t want their child or teen to receive the Covid-19 vaccine, who has the legal say in what happens next? 

Let’s take a look at divorced parents’ vaccine rights and how disagreements over the Covid-19 vaccine may be resolved. Read more

How To Pandemic-Proof Your Child Custody Agreements 

Over the past year, we’ve learned that custody arrangements require great flexibility to endure and protect children and parental rights during a public health emergency.

If you and your spouse are recently separated in 2021 are creating new temporary plans for custody, you are probably wondering, how does Covid-19 fit in? Read more

5 Signs Your Child Is Being Turned Against You

child being turned against youParental alienation and being rejected by your child is one of the most painful experiences a divorced parent can have. Although some kids may temporarily take sides during divorce, they usually still want a relationship with the parent they’re being mad at. 

But children of high-conflict divorces often have a hard time loving both parents, usually due to pressure from the alienating parent. How do you know if your child’s angry behavior is transitory, or an indication of deeper anger and parental alienation?

Here are 5 signs that he or she is being turned against you. Read more

Are “Britney Spears” Conservatorships Available In New Jersey?

Britney Spears Conservatorship

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There is a court update in the ongoing Britney Spears conservatorship case, keeping this unusual legal arrangement in the headlines.

What’s new? In this most recent recent development, a Los Angeles Superior Court Judge rejected a request from Britney’s lawyer to remove the singer’s father as conservator of her estate, despite claims that with Jamie Spears in charge, the singer felt unable to return to work.  

“My client has informed me that she is afraid of her father,” Samuel D. Ingham III, Spears’s court-appointed lawyer, told the judge, according the The Associated Press. “She will not perform again if her father is in charge of her career.”

Those on Jamie Spears’s side cite how well Britney’s father has managed financial and personal decisions related to his daughter, and his commitment to her well-being. The judge left the door open to consider further petitions for Jamie Spears’s removal “down the road.” A final hearing in the matter is scheduled for February 2021.

For fans of the #FreeBritney movement who believe Jamie’s role in the conservatorship is unjust, this latest news may be disconcerting. But for others struggling to make the right decision for a family member or loved one at risk, Britney’s conservatorship continuing to make headlines raises the question — what exactly is this arrangement and who can benefit from one? Read more