Tips for Co-Parenting and Sharing Custody

If you have been a parent for very long, you have likely had to advise your child to make the best of a bad situation. Sometimes, as parents, we need to follow our own advice. This happens to be the case when it comes to co-parenting and sharing custody. Whether you are going through a divorce, have been divorced for a while, or have never been married to your child’s other parent, there are ways to make the best of these often-challenging situations.  

One of these ways and perhaps the most essential is to hire a compassionate Will County family lawyer to be by your side. Your attorney can help you navigate shared custody and help you with the rest of these tips.

Treat Your Co-Parent as a Colleague

You want to be respectful and professional as if your child’s other parent is your colleague. Showing up late, bad-mouthing the other parent to the children, or blowing off their opinion is disrespectful and only causes tension. You both have a common interest and, hopefully, want the best for your children. Respect each other so you can work together to meet this goal. You may even want to consider a collaborative divorce, which encompasses much more than just child custody and co-parenting in a divorce.

Get on the Same Page

Keeping up with children’s appointments, pick-ups, and schedules can be difficult for even the most organized parents who are still together.  Scheduling confusion can easily create conflict between two parents. To keep you and your co-parent on the same page, try one or both of these strategies:

• Keep a digital calendar such as with Google so that you both have access to the kids’ schedules and can reference it and make changes as necessary
• Schedule regular co-parenting meetings to sit down and discuss any upcoming scheduling plans or changes

Lower Your Expectations about Your Co-Parent’s Rules

Perhaps you enforce a strict bedtime, limit screen time, or do not allow food upstairs in your home. This is your prerogative as a parent, but you cannot expect that your children’s other parent will have the same rules for the kids that you do. 

If possible, sit down and discuss each parent’s goals and values for the children. If needed, ask your family lawyer in Will County to help you negotiate what the rules for the children should be at each house. If you cannot agree, you may have to learn to accept that the rules will be different as long as your children are safe and provided for. 

Help from an Experienced Will County Family Attorney

Whether you need to change your custody agreement, ask for some extra time during a one-time family vacation, or something else, a family attorney in Will County could assist you in negotiating with your spouse or if that fails to petition the family court for what you need or want.

You can schedule your family law consultation today by reaching out to our knowledgeable attorneys at Sabuco, Beck, Hansen & Massino, P.C via phone or use our online contact form.