Divorce can be one of the most financially devastating events in life. The costs that accompany divorce include legal bills and the cost of an additional residence, and with around 45% of marriages ending in divorce, millions of Americans face the financial strains of divorce every year.

When a second marriage ends in divorce, money management strains can be even greater, because couples may have children together as well as children from previous unions, prenuptial agreements are more likely to be involved, and people in second marriages are often older, with more deeply ingrained financial tendencies.

Good money management after divorce should begin before papers are filed to minimize potential financial problems. If you are divorced or in the process of divorcing, smart money management requires considering your income, regular bills, short term goals, health and life insurance, retirement planning, and emergency funds.
Click here to continue reading this article from Mint.com

Child custody mediation provides parents with a valuable alternative to an adversarial divorce. Through the process of mediation, parents have the opportunity to work together and create a parenting plan that honors each parent’s unique contribution to their children’s upbringing. Consider the following benefits of child custody mediation:

1. Mediation is Non-Adversarial

Child custody mediation is a collaborative process with a common goal in mind: to do what is best for your children. Unlike the adversarial divorce process, mediation focuses on what is truly best for the children. Through this process, you will be able to establish a parenting plan that enables both parents to be actively involved in the children’s lives. The alternative is taking your ex-spouse to court and suing for custody of your children, which in many cases creates even more dissension and conflict.

2. Mediation is Easier on Your Children

A contested divorce is wrought with conflict, and we know this has a negative impact on children who are dealing with their parents’ divorce. Even when your intentions are good, realize that it’s your lawyer’s job to do everything in his or her power to fight for you and your interests. This creates a situation where the children are unavoidably – even if unintentionally – caught in the middle. Instead, mediation focuses on what’s best for the children and teaches you as parents how to separate your own interests from theirs.Read the full article by Jennifer Wolf >>

Co-parenting amicably with your ex can give your children stability and close relationships with both parents–but it’s rarely easy. Putting aside relationship issues to co-parent agreeably can be fraught with stress. Despite the many challenges, though, it is possible to develop a cordial working relationship with your ex for the sake of your children. With these tips, you can remain calm, stay consistent, and avoid or resolve conflict with your ex and make joint custody work.

Joint custody arrangements, especially after an acrimonious split, can be exhausting and infuriating. It can be extremely difficult to get past the painful history you may have with your ex and overcome any built-up resentment. Making shared decisions, interacting with each another at drop-offs, or just speaking to a person you’d rather forget all about can seem like impossible tasks. But while it’s true that co-parenting isn’t an easy solution, it is the best way to ensure your children’s needs are met and they are able to retain close relationships with both parents.

It may be helpful to start thinking of your relationship with your ex as a completely new one—one that is entirely about the well-being of your children, and not about either of you. Your marriage may be over, but your family is not; doing what is best for your kids is your most important priority. The first step to being a mature, responsible co-parent is to always put your children’s needs ahead of your own.

Read the full article from HelpGuide.org >>

Divorce. I have been there and done that, along with 19 million other adults in this country. Although it has lost some of its stigma over the years, divorce hasn’t lost any of its heartache. As a divorced parent, nothing is more heart breaking than watching the impact of divorce on your children. They are usually the last to know and the most affected.

But even more painful is the first time you have to spend a holiday apart from your children. As busy professionals, a holiday is one of the few times we can break the routine and spend significant quality time with our loved ones. Having to forfeit this time with my children was, for me, strange and empty (sad is an understatement).

What’s a working parent to do?

So how can we minimize the pain and make the holidays most enjoyable for our children and ourselves? As a corporate strategist, my success comes from knowing how to see issues from my client’s perspective. As a parent, I needed to do the same thing for my children. Having observed both healthy and unhealthy post-divorce families, my suggestions are derived from seeing divorce from a child’s point of view. The key thing to remember is that we divorced our spouses but not our children. Efforts should be made to ensure their happiness, which in turn will help ensure our own. Click here to continue reading.

What’s the best way to help your family get through a divorce? Every situation — and every family — is different. But some stress reducing guidelines might make the adjustment a bit easier.

These suggestions can make the process less painful for kids, teens, and families. Parents will need to interpret them in their own ways; honesty, sensitivity, self-control, and time itself will help the healing process. Be patient — not everyone’s timetable is the same.

Click here to read this article from Kids Health by D’Arcy Lyness, PhD.

The average length of a marriage in the United States is about eight years, but longer-term marriages are not immune from breakups. For this latter group, divorce can have an even more profound impact on long-term financial plans as the split comes just at the point when income is highest and retirement planning comes squarely into focus.

While there has been a trend toward greater income equality among married couples, in many cases the income disparity between husbands and wives can be a key source of financial stress that leads to a breakup. This leaves the couple, and the courts, in the difficult position of determining a division of financial resources that is equitable for the long term. Often, couples focus exclusively on dividing their current property without giving enough consideration to the impact this division will have on their retirement prospects.

Decisions regarding Social Security retirement benefits should play a key role in determining the fairness of any divorce settlement. For couples contemplating divorce, or already divorced and approaching retirement age, it is important to understand the rules regarding how divorce can impact the size of this important guaranteed retirement income stream.

Click here to continue reading this article from seacoastonline by David T. Mayes.