While a divorce might be the only option when it comes to escaping a failed marriage, children can suffer when their parents divorce. Statistics show that over one million American children experience the divorce of their parents each year. If you are concerned about minimizing the effect your own divorce will have on your children, it may be beneficial to consider some alternative custody arrangements.
One new type of custody arrangement, commonly referred to as bird's nest custody, can help you maintain a sense of routine and continuity in your children's lives.
What is Bird's Nest Custody?
In traditional custody arrangements, the children are shuttled from one parent's home to the other. Bird's nest custody helps to eliminate these breaks in the children's schedule by allowing the children to stay in the family home. Parents rotate in and out of the home based on their set custody schedule.
Adults are often better able to cope with change than children, so splitting time between two residences is easier for the divorced parents.
What are the benefits of bird's nest custody?
Research shows a correlational relationship between divorce and signs of negative emotional health like poor grades, experimentation with illegal substances, and low self-esteem in children. While these negative emotional signs might not stem directly from the divorce itself, problems like increased conflict between parents, inconsistent parenting strategies, and parental alienation accompany a divorce. It is these accompanying problems that can affect children dramatically.
Bird's nest custody helps to address the problems associated with divorce by allowing parents to continue working together to raise children. Since both parents will maintain shared custody of the family household, it's essential that they coordinate things like maintenance and discipline.
This coordination increases communication between ex-spouses and helps to keep both parents present and involved in children's lives after a divorce.
What are some challenges associated with bird's nest custody?
Though bird's nest custody can be beneficial for children, it can pose some unique problems for divorced couples. Rather than maintaining a single residence, each parent will be responsible for paying to maintain a separate residence and share the cost of maintaining the family home.
Ensuring that you have the financial resources required to maintain two properties is an essential component when it comes to the success of a bird's nest custody arrangement.
If you ended your marriage on good terms with your former spouse, then bird's nest custody may be a beneficial way to reduce the negative effects of your divorce on your children. For more information, contact McDonald Law Offices or a similar firm.
