In custody and divorce cases, all too often one parent is attempting to be a friend to their child while the other parent comes across as the heavy who has to make rules the child does not like. Unfortunately, this approach backfires far too often and the child rebels.
As a divorce lawyer in San Diego, I help my clients understand this process and instill in them the importance of working with the other parent rather than working against them. Often, however, it is the other parent who refuses to co-parent with my client. When that occurs and the parents have reached an impasse in working together I suggest for the parents to go to a co-parenting class to learn how to work together.
When there are co-parenting issues, it is important for lawyers involved in custody disputes to work with each other to help their own clients realize the danger to their children should they continue to be unable to co-parent. The attorneys should attempt to help end this cycle of dysfunction rather than continue to promote it.
It is in the child’s best interest when their parents can work together and help make rules that they both will support and enforce. In my experience as a licensed marriage family therapist and a San Diego divorce and custody lawyer, I have seen firsthand that children benefit when their parents are able to set and follow rules and work together to ensure that their child is happy.
