Make a New Year’s Eve Time Capsule with the kids. It may provide valuable insight
Posted December 30th, 2016.
Categories: Child Custody, Custody Tips, Family Law.
As the year 2016 draws to a close, think about what significant events have occurred throughout the year — in your life, your children’s lives, and in the state of your family. Get the kids of creating a “time capsule.” A time capsule can be made from an empty tennis ball container or similar type […]
Read MoreNew Year’s Resolutions for Kids — Get them started now!
Posted December 28th, 2016.
Categories: Child Custody, Custody Tips, Family Law.
Now is a good time to get your children started on making their New Year’s Resolutions. Of course, many of us adults tend to make the same resolutions every year — lose weight, work less, finish that class, clean out that spare room — and we promptly break them by mid-January. But children may treat […]
Read MoreIf you have the kids on New Year’s Eve, plan a kids party at your house or attend one somewhere else.
Posted December 26th, 2016.
Categories: Child Custody, Custody Tips, Family Law.
Parents often fight so aggressively over who has the children for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day that they forget the value of having the children on New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day. If you have the children on New Year’s Eve this year, get them involved early in planning a New Year’s Eve party. […]
Read MoreUse Christmas as an opportunity to teach good manners.
Posted December 23rd, 2016.
Categories: Child Custody, Custody Tips, Family Law.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! If you’re having a family gathering for the holidays, be sure that the children have have received a crash course in guest etiquette. Make sure they know their table manners. If somebody gives them a lousy gift — or perhaps a toy or a book they already have — teach […]
Read MoreGet the kids involved in making holiday gifts at your home — a custody strategy, not just a nice gesture.
Posted December 22nd, 2016.
Categories: Child Custody, Custody Tips, Family Law.
Take advantage of the upcoming holidays, and get your kids busy making gifts. Not just buying gifts…but rather, making them. Get the children invested in the holiday spirit by turning their rooms into Santa’s workshop. Producing gifts at your home is much more than generating holiday cheer. It’s a strategy to strengthen the children’s ties […]
Read MoreCoordinate gift-giving with the other parent, and don’t leave half-siblings out of the picture
Posted December 21st, 2016.
Categories: Child Custody, Custody Tips, Family Law.
One of the valuable lessons of the holiday season is the virtue of gift-giving. Children should learn about the pleasures of giving holiday cards and gifts to their loved ones. This important seasonal ritual can get lost (or confused) when kids are divided between two households, or when they have half-brothers and half-sisters at one […]
Read MoreDon’t buy holiday gifts for your kids that will complicate your custody case.
Posted December 20th, 2016.
Categories: Child Custody, Custody Tips, Family Law.
Shopping for the kids? Be careful. If you’re embroiled in an ongoing child custody dispute, holiday gifts can be a source of great confusion and tactical warfare. Consider, for example, the non-custodial parent who buys a new bicycle for his son. The gift is given to the boy when he visits with his father on […]
Read More“You’re Grounded!” How to Collaborate in Punishing Your Children
Posted December 19th, 2016.
Categories: Child Custody, Custody Tips, Family Law.
Imagine this situation: Suzy, a 14-year-old, stays out with her friends well beyond the local town curfew. She is escorted home at 2:00 a.m. by a local police officer. She is drunk. Her mother, the custodial parent, is infuriated. “You’re grounded, young lady,” she declares. And she means it! Except for one problem…. The next […]
Read MoreGive the Non-Custodial Parent a Freebie
Posted December 16th, 2016.
Categories: Child Custody, Custody Tips, Family Law.
Often, a child custody case is so contentious that parents fight over every little detail. So this piece of advice may seem contrary to common practice. But trust me on this one: It’s not a bad idea, every once in a while, if the parent with primary physical custody of the child (the custodial parent) […]
Read MoreGoing out of town with the kids for the holidays? Think “Exhibit” while you’re away.
Posted December 15th, 2016.
Categories: Child Custody, Custody Tips, Family Law.
Planning to travel out of town for the holidays? If so, don’t pass up the opportunity to gather some useful evidence along the way. If you’re embroiled in a child custody fight, an out-of-town trip with the kids is a prime chance to collect “exhibits” that can be used in your case. For example, if […]
Read MoreGet to Bed! Why you must unify children’s bedtimes and curfews.
Posted December 14th, 2016.
Categories: Child Custody, Custody Tips, Family Law.
A lesson to be learned: Back in 1991, Donna Forner and Bradley Gabriel of North Carolina had a child together. Ms. Forner and Mr. Gabriel were never married, and by the end of the 1990s, they were fighting over child custody and support. The court initially awarded primary physical custody to Ms. Forner because she […]
Read MoreArrange sleepovers and play dates at your house.
Posted December 12th, 2016.
Categories: Child Custody, Custody Tips, Family Law.
In a child custody dispute, it is always useful to draw as many of your children’s friends and parents as possible to your house. When it comes time to throw a party, do it at your house. Schedule sleepovers and playdates at your home, under your roof. Let other children in your neighborhood become familiar […]
Read MoreKeep records and receipts of all extraordinary purchases
Posted December 9th, 2016.
Categories: Child Custody, Divorce, Family Law.
How many times have you heard a non-custodial parent try to slither out of paying child support by claiming he bought the children a new pair of sneakers or he paid for their soccer uniforms? Such special purchases are not the same as child support, and you can’t get credit for giving gifts or paying […]
Read MoreMake a home video with the kids, especially during the holiday season.
Posted December 8th, 2016.
Categories: Child Custody, Custody Tips, Family Law.
Take advantage of the many family gatherings and festive moments over the next five weeks to produce your own family home video. Give your children starring roles in the movie, featuring them in happy, silly moments in the presence of their grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. Catch them setting the table and helping with the […]
Read MoreGo on vacation with your kids’ half-siblings.
Posted December 7th, 2016.
Categories: Child Custody, Custody Tips, Family Law.
Relationships between siblings– even half brothers and half sisters– can be very important in a custody case. In fact, in many cases, a judge will decide the custody case in favor of the parent who best promotes the sibling relationship. Where half brothers and half sisters are bonded to each other, the parent who can […]
Read MoreLet the spirit guide you! Why church membership might help your custody case.
Posted December 5th, 2016.
Categories: Child Custody, Custody Tips, Family Law.
Getting Godly doesn’t usually affect the results of a child custody case, but occasionally religious faith can have a positive influence. As courts strive to determine what’s in the best interest of the children, they find themselves looking at a number of factors – the best educational interest, the best social and cultural interests, the […]
Read MoreBuy your child a book today!
Posted December 2nd, 2016.
Categories: Child Custody, Custody Tips, Family Law.
The art of reading is slipping away quickly these days as children grow up in a world of I-Pads, I-Pods, Androids, Kindles and other messaging and texting devices. Too often, the courts hear about children who are failing basic reading and writing tests and who are emerging from high school as functional illiterates. For this […]
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