Conflict in a divorce can arise due to different factors and child custody is among the leading ones. While decisions should be in the child’s best interests, parents can have different opinions about what this means, and this can result in battles.
The following are three causes of disputes in child custody.
Money
The court will consider each parent’s financial situation to give an order on who will pay child support. And this is when conflicts may arise. If parents can’t agree on the expenses that fall under child support, they may be in conflict. The custodial parent will fight to get a sufficient amount, and the other may question every cost.
It will be best for divorcing parents to calculate a child’s current expenses and a reasonable extra for emergencies to determine an amount fair to both parties. However, if this is challenging, the court will help.
Parenting plan
Divorcing parents should have a parenting plan to determine who will have the child on which days. In addition to a schedule, this plan also highlights how both parents will communicate, decision-making procedures, how to solve disputes and so on. When one parent feels like the other has unfair suggestions, they may not accept a plan, resulting in fights.
New partners
After a divorce is final and one or both parents are dating other partners, they will get to the stage when they need to introduce them to the kids. Even though it may seem unnecessary, one should inform the other parent beforehand. Doing so without giving the other parent a heads-up can cause misunderstandings.
These are some of the common factors that can contribute to child custody disputes. It will be best to get legal guidance to protect your parental rights.