Protecting Your Children After Divorce

Don’t Use Children as Intermediaries

It’s a bit much to expect your kids to use visits to their other parent as fact-finding missions and report back to you. To be sure, if you have real concerns about drug abuse in the household or anything that could endanger your child, you deserve to know and get involved, but resist the urge to interrogate them about your ex-spouse’s life. Most importantly, communicate directly with your ex-spouse, not through your kids.

Maintain Consistency and Continuity

A parent’s departure represents a major disruption in your child’s or children’s routine and comfort. After separation, do your best to avoid making even more jarring changes to their lives. Continue the same extracurricular activities, try to remain enrolled in the same school, and if possible, keep children’s primary residence in the same house.

Ensure Timely Child Support Payments

Part of protecting your children after divorce is making sure they have the necessary financial support from their other parent. Without full and timely child support payments, the rigors of raising a child can be insurmountable, leading to everything from an inability to pay tuition to stretching the weekly grocery bill too far. To avoid a situation that would put such a strain on you and your child, consider an Illinois child support attorney who will work to secure the child support payments to which you and your child are entitled.