New Jersey parents may find it difficult to co-parent their children with their ex-spouse following a divorce, especially if that divorce was not amicable. However, it is essential for parents to continue to work together for the sake of their children, especially as they begin to move on.
At some point, one or both parents may begin to date other people. However, kids, especially young kids, can quickly latch on to new adults in their lives. To protect the kids, parents should be extremely careful when introducing new partners into their lives. If a parent is worried that the other parent may be too quick to do so, provisions can be put in the child custody order that address the situation.
When parents eventually remarry, stepparents can throw a wrench into a working child custody plan. To help with these transitions, step-parents should be considered “assistant” parents instead. They should assist the legal parent without overstepping rules and boundaries. Essentially, this means that stepparents should not make parenting decisions, but they should help enforce the ones that the legal parents make.
Any child custody decisions that are made during or after a divorce should always be done with the children’s best interests in mind. If the children are particularly young, protecting them should be a top priority for both parents. If a parent has evidence that the other parent has risky behaviors, such as introducing children to new adults too soon, a family law attorney may assist with negotiating child custody provisions that can help keep the children’s lives stable.