As young people, many Ohio residents may have believed that life would get easier as they grew older. Now that you have reached adulthood, you likely know this notion is not necessarily true. You may feel the weight of that misconception quite heavily now that you are going through divorce.
In particular, as a parent, you have the immensely challenging task of deciding the right child custody arrangements for your family. Though you certainly want to keep your kids in your life as much as possible, you also have the other parent to consider and your children’s relationships with that parent. Of course, before you decide that co-parenting or joint custody is the best option, you need to closely assess your case.
Co-parenting is not always best or feasible
Though numerous people sing the praises of co-parenting and its benefits for keeping up strong child-parent relationships, it is not always beneficial for everyone. In fact, numerous scenarios exist in which co-parenting is not a viable option, including the following examples:
- One parent is incarcerated and, therefore, unable to attend to his or her parental duties.
- One parent attempts to alienate the other or turn the children against the other parent.
- One or both parents are unable to remain civil toward each other when the children are around.
- One parent has violent or abusive tendencies.
- One parent has a substance abuse problem currently affecting his or her life.
- One parent acts in an inappropriate manner on a regular basis.
- One parent has abandoned the children and, in turn, his or her parental duties.
- Both parents able unable to work together, even for the sake of the kids.
- One parent continually vies for control by using the children as pawns.
Co-parenting can succeed when parents can keep open lines of communication and can work together. Any of the aforementioned issues, and numerous others, could result in co-parenting not coming to the table as a feasible custody arrangement in your case.
Consider other options
As mentioned, numerous child custody options exist. Though co-parenting may not work for your family, you can explore other arrangements that may suit the best interests of your children. To better understand your available options and how Ohio state laws may influence your custody case, you may want to speak with a knowledgeable family law attorney.
