Establishing Boundaries for Successful Co-Parenting After Divorce

When it comes to divorcing children, co-parenting is an ideal objective to pursue in order to foster the best interests of your kids. Successful co-parenting depends on the establishment of meaningful boundaries. There are some specific facts and factors to bear in mind when it comes to the matter of establishing boundaries for successful co-parenting following a marriage dissolution.

A key boundary that needs to be established and maintained for successful co-parenting is a firm commitment not to impede or interfere with the other parent’s time with the children. Common examples of interference that arises to boundary failures associated with effective co-parenting include but are not limited to:

• Failure to have a child available at the start of a scheduled parenting time
• Failure to return a child to a custodial parent at the end of a scheduled parenting time
• Interference with a child’s time with the other parent

At the heart of effective co-parenting is consistently civil communication between parents. In order to achieve reliable, civil communication between divorced parents, a divorced couple is wise to develop a plan of action for a specific communication scheme.

For example, you will want to consider scheduling specific times at which you will have recurring and regular communications with the other parent. Some parents elect to schedule a weekly phone or Zoom conference. During such a session, parents share information relating to their child or children. This can include planning activities which a child or children will be participating in during the coming week.

The planned communication session can also be an ideal time at address issues that arise in regard to a child or children. Open communication is an invaluable element of addressing issues associated with children in divorce and a vital part of successful co-parenting.

There is an often-used statement that those who fail to plan, plan to fail. One of the most important elements of effective co-parenting is establishing a comprehensive and detailed parenting plan in the first instance. A complete, thorough parenting plan sets forth the framework for addressing issues associated with children following a divorce.

A properly drafted parenting plan establishes necessary boundaries associated with children and co-parenting following the end of divorce proceedings and into the future until children become adults. A parenting plan also has failsafe provisions to deal with potential problems that may arise going forward into the future as parents attempt to co-parent successfully.

Various issues may arise from time to time that impact your ability to effectively co-parent. These matters may impinge upon your ability to establish or enforce suitable boundaries. You may not be able to tackle such issues on your own.

If problems do occur, you need to be flexible enough to consider professional support and assistance that may be available to you. For example, if issues surrounding your children are causing you stress and impacting your ability to sustain suitable boundaries, you may want to consider seeking support and assistance from a counselor or therapist that focuses his or her practice on working with people dealing with post-divorce matters.

If you have made the decision to seek a divorce, or if your spouse has commenced marriage dissolution proceedings, retaining a capable, experienced New Jersey divorce attorney is a fundamental step to protect your important legal interests. Call the Law Offices of Peter Van Aulen at (201) 845-7400 today.