Throughout the year, many Alaska parents will decide to file for divorce. Perhaps you will be one of them. Making such a decision will undoubtedly have a significant impact on your children’s lives, as you know. However, if you achieve a child custody agreement centrally focused on their best interests, it is possible for your kids to come to terms with your divorce and minimize the stress and disruption that stems from it.
If you share child custody with your ex, your children will live with you part of the time and with their other parent the rest of the time. While many children fare well after divorce when they split their time equally between households, others do not. In fact, if you and your ex argue about child-related issues a lot, shared custody might not be the best option for your kids.
Children experience high levels of stress in contentious child custody cases
If your kids are constantly exposed to parental conflict as you and your ex fight about money, discipline, schedules and more in a shared child custody arrangement, they may experience much more stress than they might if they lived with you or their other parent full-time. If you have sole custody, you probably wouldn’t have to see your ex as often as you would if you were sharing custody on a rotating schedule.
Was your ex neglectful or abusive toward your kids during your marriage? If so, this would be another example of a time when shared custody might not be in the best interests of a child. If you believe your ex is unfit for custody, you can bring the matter before the court. Just be prepared to show evidence to substantiate your allegations.
When former spouses live far apart, shared custody doesn’t always work well
Perhaps you and your ex get along well enough to share custody, but you live in different states. You might even live so far apart that your kids would have to fly or take a train to move back and forth between households. Travel is expensive, and there are many logistics involved, such as who will be at the airport to meet the kids when they arrive.
If you live within easy driving distance of each other, it might not pose a problem to share custody. However, if you and your ex live many miles apart, you might want to consider other custody arrangements that would be less stressful for your children. It’s helpful to learn more about all child custody options available, then determine which type of arrangement would best fit your children’s needs.
