Tag Archive for: children & divorce

What’s the Difference Between Physical and Legal Custody?

transgender children

Many people assume that child custody is a single issue, but in reality, child custody is a multi-layered issue with a number of different components that will need to be determined when parents separate or divorce. For example, will a parent seek physical custody or legal custody, or both? And who will hold the custody? Will it be shared (joint) by parents or will one parent be awarded sole custody? What about visitation? Read more

Divorce & Co-Parenting Over Summer Vacation

Are you a co-parent? Then you know very well that the end of the school year and summer vacation are fast approaching with all the activities that entails.

It’s normal to feel a little stressed making the transition from the predictable schedule of the school to summer’s more relaxed pace. For divorced or separated parents, however, there is often added pressure as summer vacation forces parents to be in more frequent contact with one another. Read more

Saving for College: What Happens to a 529 Plan When You Divorce?

Your children may be too young to even know what career they would like to pursue, let alone know which college they want to attend. But if you and your spouse, like so many other parents, set up a designated 529 college savings plan, a tax-advantaged investment account used to help parents squirrel money away funds to cover the eventual cost a child attending college, you may be wondering what’s going to happen to this money now that you are getting a divorce. Your family’s situation is unique, of course, but here are a few common possibilities for dealing with a 529 plan during a divorce. Read more

5 Tips for Making Divorce Less Expensive

Want to break your marital bonds — but not your budget? Every divorce situation is unique, but here are five ways couples may be able to save a little (or a lot) on their divorce proceedings: Read more

Mother’s Day for Single Moms


It’s not Thanksgiving or Christmas, but Mother’s Day still can carry with it much of the same kind of emotional baggage that holidays and other family celebrations do when you are separated or newly divorced. Is this your first Mother’s Day since your split? Things may be very different this year, but one thing is the same: You are still a mom and you still deserve a special day.

How can you celebrate your new status as a single mom? Here are some ideas for how to create a day filled with joy. On the other hand, are you a dad wondering how to help your kids honor their mother, even if she is no longer your wife? We’ve got tips on how to make that happen, too. Read more

Bethenny Frankel Divorce: Who Prevails When Both Parents Want Custody?

The latest development in the contentious divorce between reality diva Bethenny Frankel and estranged husband Jason Hoppy is shaping up to be a nasty child custody fight over the couple’s 2-year old daughter Bryn. At issue is the claim on the part of both parents for sole custody of the little girl.

As the NY Post and sources report, “Jason has . . . requested sole custody of Bryn, just as Bethenny did when she initially filed. Jason doesn’t want to cut Bethenny out of his daughter’s life, and he recognizes that Bryn needs her mommy. Jason is agreeable to joint custody of Bryn, but Bethenny is absolutely balking. She wants sole custody of Bryn, period. No compromises. It makes no sense because Jason is a very active father and plans to be a huge part of his daughter’s life.” Read more

5 Reasons Why You Need a Prenuptial Agreement

At its most basic, a prenuptial agreement is an agreement between two spouses-to-be that deals with the financial consequences should their impending marriage end in divorce. Read more

Vacation Planning for Divorced Families

It’s your weekend for visitation and at the last minute, you decide it would be fun to head down to Washington D.C. to see that new exhibit at the Smithsonian. Can you just pick up and go, or do you first need approval from your child’s other parent? Read more

After Divorce, What Do You Do With All Those Wedding Mementos?

Jessica has a hope chest filled with memories from her wedding day to her husband Scott. There are the custom champagne flutes with their names and their wedding date etched on the glass, the unity candle they lit in their service, her dried bouquet, his boutonniere, five photo albums, a video of the ceremony, all the many cards the couple received from loved ones offering their well wishes, and to top it off, her boxed up wedding dress that she paid to have preserved. Read more

Divorce & Taxes: Who Can Claim Children As Dependents?

If this year marks the first time you are filing your taxes as a divorced parent, you may have questions about how issues such as child custody arrangements affect your ability to claim your children as dependents. Can you claim the kids even you don’t have primary custody? What about if you and your former spouse split custody 182 days each during the year — who gets to “write off” your child when the year is shared equally? Read more