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What is the Best Way to Handle a High-Conflict Custody Battle in New Jersey?
Undeniably, it can prove challenging for divorcing parties to agree on a child custody arrangement, as invaluable parenting time is at stake. Consequently, disputes can quickly escalate into major legal battles. High-conflict custody disputes can be detrimental to the children involved. Therefore, taking the necessary steps to ensure your child’s best interests are met is essential. Please continue reading to learn some tips to de-escalate a high-conflict custody battle and how our experienced Ocean County Child Custody Attorney can help you today.
How Can I De-Escalate a High-Conflict Custody Battle in New Jersey?
The best way to de-escalate a high-conflict custody battle is to pay attention to what your behavior is doing to your child and ultimately leave them out of it. It’s essential to control your emotions as they can cloud your judgment. You should refrain from speaking negatively about your former spouse around your children and avoid asking them questions that make them feel like they are being put in the middle. This can be highly stressful for children as they may feel like they need to choose a side. If your former spouse discovers that you’re engaging in this behavior in front of the children, this will only fuel their anger. They could even use your behavior against you in court. Therefore, you must keep your children out of it to ensure a positive outcome for them.
It’s beneficial for both parents to come up with parenting plans. When a parenting plan is in writing, both parties can discuss what they like or don’t like about each other’s plans. A parenting plan gives you both a solid reminder of what has been discussed and agreed to. This leaves no room for ambiguity or opportunity for misinterpretation in the future, as everything is in writing. While developing a parenting plan together, compromise when appropriate. Compromising doesn’t mean you have to yield to every request. However, the more flexible you are with your plan, the more your former spouse may be. Moreover, a parenting plan can help you set ground rules to refer to during child custody exchanges. This can help prevent or end high-conflict battles.
While divorce mediation is usually recommended for couples willing to compromise to dissolve their marriage on relatively amicable terms, this alternative dispute resolution can sometimes be beneficial in de-escalating high-conflict situations. During mediation, a neutral third-party mediator will guide the sessions, facilitating communication so that both parties become non-confrontational. They will offer solutions to problems in a more constructive way that prevents couples from fixating on negative situations that may arise while determining the terms that will apply to the termination of their marriage, including child custody disputes.
If you’re facing a high-conflict custody battle, please don’t hesitate to contact a proficient attorney from the Law Office of Sarina Gianna, who can help you work toward a healthy co-parenting relationship to safeguard your child’s best interests.
