Whether your child is planning to get married around Valentine's Day or has scheduled a summer wedding, if you're a divorced parent, you may be dreading the prospect of dealing with your co-parent. You likely will be together not just on the big day but at events leading up to the wedding. Whether you've been divorced for years or the break-up is recent, big celebrations can be awkward.
What should you do if your co-parent criticizes you to your kids?
All the books and articles about healthy co-parenting after divorce you've been reading tell you not to criticize or speak ill of your co-parent in front of your kids. Don't call them names, don't blame them when things don't go the way you'd hoped and don't lie about them.
Not everyone leaves their wealth to their children
This is the year that you finally sit down with an attorney and develop your estate plan. You've worked hard your entire adult life and have a fair amount to show for it. Should you leave your assets to your children and grandchildren when you die or to charitable organizations whose work you support?
Meeting your co-parent halfway for custody exchanges
If you and your co-parent are living some distance apart, whether 20 miles or hundreds of miles, neither of you may want to make that drive when you trade off custody of the kids. Fortunately, there's an app for that. Actually, there are multiple sites to help people find locations that are halfway between two places. A popular one for co-parents is Meetways.
Taxes are not the only issues your estate plan should address
For many who decide to create an estate plan, their objective is to avoid the heavy burden of estate taxes. To this end, they may create trusts for their assets or find ways to protect their business from the federal estate tax, which can be significant for those whose estates qualify. However, if you are concerned about factors that may siphon money from your heirs, you may want to consider your heirs themselves.
Revising your estate plan can spare your loved ones
Perhaps you enjoy the feeling of accomplishment when you have completed something difficult but important. You may have experienced that feeling when your child graduated from college or when you paid off your own student loans or your mortgage. Many people have this feeling when they have completed their estate plan, having protected their assets and provided some comfort and stability for their families.
Estate planning for someone facing dementia
As our population ages, more and more people are dealing with parents who are suffering from Alzheimer's disease and other conditions that can cause dementia. Sometimes, signs of dementia don't show up until a person is elderly. Increasingly, however, people are diagnosed in the early stages, before their memory and cognitive functions become noticeably impaired.
How do judges decide what's in a child's 'best interests?'
If you and your spouse can't agree on a child custody arrangement during your divorce, a family court judge will need to decide the matter. The primary consideration for judges is what's in the child's best interests.
The importance of virtual visitation for parents and children
Whether you live across town from your children or relocation by you or your ex has placed you hundreds or even thousands of miles away, you can stay connected to your kids via the many forms of virtual visitation.
How to prevent digital spying during your divorce
These days, it's easy to spy on someone if you know how. Usually, this technology is used for good -- or at least convenience. You can track your kids via smartphone apps and keep an eye on your pets while you're at work via in-home cameras. You can find out who's at your front door when you're away. You can adjust the thermostat remotely to make sure your home is cool when you return on a scorching summer day.
Keeping your kids' cousins, uncles and aunts in their lives
If this was your last holiday season with your spouse before your divorce gets underway, you likely spent part of it with other family members on both sides -- particularly if you have children. While most parents want to make sure that their kids continue to see all of their grandparents after divorce, relationships with cousins, aunts and uncles can be more difficult to maintain or may simply not be a priority for the parent who isn't related to them.
