Divorce is a plague that is destroying numerous families across the United States of America. Sadly, when husbands and wives divorce, the children are often caught directly in the middle. Throughout the years divorce has been becoming more and more common. In the 1920's it was a rare find to know a person whom had been divorced, today it is a rarity not to know of one who has been, or will be divorced. Divorce has numerous effects on the structures of families, and many devastating effects on the children that must experience it, although sometimes necessary, divorce radically changes the lives of adolescents and adults alike.
Explaining Divorce
"Parents frequently tell me they believe that to explain too much about the end of
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Sometimes divorce may be the only way to solve the various problems a family may have.
Custody
When parents become divorced there are many decisions that they must come to an agreement upon. "How will are possessions be divided?" and "What will happen to the children?" are often the most asked questions when divorce occurs. Custody is almost always the largest battle when husband and wife become divorced. Custody includes all duties a parent owes a child including, food, shelter, protection discipline, education, and even a child's religious beliefs (Martin 32). Often, a judge must make custody decisions for the parents. There are several types of custody, but the most common are sole custody, joint legal custody, and joint physical custody.
In sole custody, a single parent provides shelter and makes all important decisions for the child. In joint legal custody, the child lives with a single parent but decisions are agreed upon by both. Finally, in joint physical custody the child lives with each parent for equal periods of time and important decisions may be made by either one, or both parents (Furstenberg 32).
Sole custody children often live with the custodial parent for two-week periods and live with the non-custodial parent for two-day time periods (Wolchik 164). This gives the child a stable home to live in while also allowing the child to have a relationship with both parents. Of all different types
Sole custody gives one parent to make all decisions for the child including medical, education, and the everyday decisions. According to Family Findlaw, (2015), “ These custody arrangements are rare, and are usually limited to situations in which one parent has been deemed unfit or incapable of having any form of responsibility over a child -- for example, due to drug addiction or evidence of child abuse.”
When deciding on custody for your child, the arrangements can be for either legal custody or physical custody.
Divorce is a heavy concept that has many implications for those involved. The situation becomes even more consequential when children are considered. As divorce has become more commonplace in society, millions of children are affected by the separation of the nuclear family. How far-reaching are these effects? And is there a time when divorce is beneficial to the lives of the children? This paper will examine some of the major research and several different perspectives regarding the outcomes of divorce for the children involved, and whether it can actually be in the best interest of the kids.
Divorce is a very critical and sensitive issue for any couple that has planned for the separation. The issue becomes more complicated if they have children, whose custody becomes a big question to be resolved.
Legal custody covers who makes the decisions for the child in regards to religion, education, and medical needs. When joint legal custody is issued, the parents must work together to make these determinations as they arise. If there are disagreements, the parenting plan will often suggest mediation for parents to collaborate and do what is best for their
This first option is for one parent to have sole physical and legal custody while the other parent will have visitation, or access, rights. Usually, with sole custody, legal and physical custody will not be split. If one parent has sole custody, he or she will typically have sole legal and physical custody. However, sole custody comes with certain limitations. An example of these limitations is that both parents are prohibited from belittling, or bad-mouthing, the other
Unlike physical custody, legal custody can only be sole or joint. If legal custody is shared, both parents must consult each other on major decisions involving the child. If a decision is made by one parent without the consent of the other, or one parent feels the other is noncompliant with shared custody, the couple can be brought back to court to force compliance or to try and gain sole legal custody, though it is more difficult to gain sole custody, the courts preferring shared legal custody. Two parents can half joint legal custody over a child while one parent has sole physical custody.
In the last two decades divorce has increased substantially leaving couples single and families broken. Divorce is the reality for many families as there is an increase in divorce rates, cohabitation rates, and the number of children raised in step and single marital families. Divorce cannot be overlooked as it negatively affects and impacts youngsters for the rest of their lives. Although it is the decision between two parents’s children are hurt the most in the process. The concept of divorce is extremely difficult for children to understand as there are many unanswered questions and uncertainties. “Will my mom or dad remarry and who will I live with?” are concerns children express while going through divorce. Many
Ultimately, parents often lack the ability to realize that a majority of divorces may be resolved.
Divorce is a family crisis, which could require a long period for recovery. Along with the turmoil associated with the adolescent stage of life, divorce adds other
Divorce or the parent separation is a major life change for the children and can
The paper covers many important facts regarding a father's rights, role and responsibility to children in a divorce. Mothers have been the sole custody default for over 30 years. Typically, if a father never asks for custody, he will never get it. While this is one-sided and not always the ideal scenario, shared custody is still a complex arrangement. Its ultimate success hinges on many factors.
The purpose of this paper was to give some insight into the vicious battles that take place over child custody. It is important to mention that raising children is difficult even with two parents, now when there is only one parent the difficultly increases by leaps and bounds. The idea of joint custody seems to sound like a good solution however, Smith (2003) stated
However, if one of the individuals in the marriage is resisting the divorce, or situations are complex, such as children being involved, then divorces can take a long time to finalize and can become extremely messy affairs. The constant arguing, disagreements, snide comments and hateful words that occur during this time frame, which most likely started before the topic of divorce was even brought up, can take a toll on not just the two individuals whose marriage is ending, but everyone else who is involved, no matter how little their involvement is.
Divorce is becoming all too popular in our society today. When a couple experience tough times or have one too many arguments, they automatically think divorce. Despite its prevalence couples are not prepared for it’s long, drawn out, hurtful process. Divorce does not only hurt the individuals involved, it also affects the children tremendously. While many people don’t think divorce is a bad thing. Hollywood makes divorce look cool and uneventful. When in all reality, it is disruptive. Some people would say that divorce is a lazy way out of a marriage; the cowardly thing to do when a situation presents itself. Divorce is not the only answer to marital problems, in most cases.