You’re getting divorced, but you don’t want it to be combative. You want it to be collaborative. You’re hoping that you and your spouse can work together to achieve your goals. You don’t envision this as a situation in which you are involved in a high level of conflict during a court case.
But how do you actually make this happen? Perhaps you’re worried that you and your spouse won’t actually be able to get along and cooperate at this level. Fortunately, there is one key thing that you can do to make it possible.
Put the children first
Couples who talk about having an amicable divorce and a good relationship after that divorce will often stress that they took steps to put their children first. They did things that would help the children have the life they wanted them to have, even if it was more complicated for them.
For example, one couple chose to buy houses near each other and then arranged a custody schedule where the children switched homes very frequently, allowing them all to have close relationships. But the parents had to make sacrifices, such as choosing to continue living near each other and working to transfer the children between each home.
The benefit of putting your children first, though, is that you and your spouse are working toward the same goal. It’s difficult to cooperate when you’re both thinking about your own personal goals. But when each of you are concentrating on the same goal, doing what you can for your children, then cooperation is much more natural. Of course, you still want to know about all of your legal options as you go through this process.
