Phoenix Family Law and Estate Planning Law Blog

As a new parent, you probably do everything you can to protect your child. You may research the healthiest formulas and foods and avoid anything that could cause harm. When it comes to childcare, you are weighing your options carefully and thoroughly. Leaving nothing to chance, you may already have a savings account started for your baby's college tuition.

With all these precautions in place, have you considered what would happen to your child if a tragic accident or illness should take you away? Would all your plans and protections go by the wayside? Do you know how you can ensure your child will continue to receive the kind of care you desire for him or her?

One of the first and most important decisions you'll make in your divorce is your choice of a family law attorney. As you talk to attorneys you're considering retaining, you'll be looking for someone who understands your priorities, such as keeping a fair share of the marital assets, getting the child custody rights you're seeking and/or obtaining the support agreement you need.

Experience is a key factor in choosing an attorney. You want someone with a good deal of experience in this field of law and who has earned a good reputation as an ethical, effective professional. However, that may not mean going with the most sought-after attorney in your area. You also want someone who has the time to devote to your case and who won't hand many of the duties off to a junior person in the firm.

Holiday gift giving can be a minefield for divorced parents and their children. Some kids might view receiving two sets of presents as one of the few upsides of their parents' divorce. However, if parents don't handle their gift giving in a mature and unselfish way, they can create highly stressful, unhappy situations for their kids. Following are a couple of situations to avoid.

Competing to give the best gifts. Too many divorced parents try to outdo each other — either to compete for their children's love or to try to make their co-parent look bad. That can be particularly difficult if one parent has less money than the other.

During the holidays, many children of divorced parents meet those parents' new significant others for the first time. If your kids live some distance away and are visiting you over winter break, you likely want to introduce them to your new partner. Even if your kids live with you, with everyone off of school and work, it might seem like a good time to plan an outing. Perhaps you want your new partner to share in some of your family holiday festivities.

If this relationship is serious enough that you're comfortable with your kids getting to know and possibly becoming attached to the new person in your life, the next step is to determine what this first meeting will involve. Keep in mind the following things:

• Designate a clear time frame. Don't plan a daylong event. If things don't go well, that can be excruciating for everyone. Plan something with a designated start and end time.
• Make the activity age-appropriate and enjoyable for your child(ren). If you've got kids of different ages, find something they'll all enjoy. If they're doing something they like, whether it's watching a favorite movie for the hundredth time, playing a board game or going to a local arcade, and your partner seems to be enjoying it, they're more likely to warm to this new person. If they're being dragged along to an art exhibit you both want to see, they're more likely to resent it -- and this person.