Including Personal Provisions in Child Custody & Support Agreements

Don’t want your former spouse smoking around your children when they are in his/her care? Committed to homeschooling? Raising your children on a vegetarian diet?

If you are considering mediation as a way to reach a resolution in your child custody or child support matter, whether it is part of your divorce settlement, or a separate matter brought up outside of divorce, one of the key benefits of negotiating with your spouse over child custody and child support is mediation’s ability to create a truly custom agreement.

Some of the terms parents have listed as “musts” for custody or support agreements? Here are a few of the many items parents have successfully requested: Read more

NJ Supreme Court Rules In Battle Over Kids’ Last Name Change

If you’re thinking about changing your child’s last name post-divorce, make sure you can give a judge a compelling reason why doing is a benefit to the child. That’s the message in a new New Jersey Surpreme Court ruling in which a Burlington County woman’s name changes for her children were overturned. Read more

Co-Parenting: Six Tips For A Successful School Year

As school districts across New Jersey begin preparations for another school year, what are you doing to prepare for “back to school” as a newly divorced or separated parent? If you’re wondering how to combine co-parenting and school obligations, here are some tips to ease the transition: Read more

Divorce Advice For Parents from Supernanny Jo Frost

After taking a break from her popular TV show, Supernanny‘s Jo Frost is back with all-new advice for parents on TLC.com. Up first? Frost answers a question from a viewer about how to co-parent with her ex-husband. Read more

In the News: Jason Patric, Sperm Donation, and Fathers’ Rights


Actor Jason Patric is embroiled in a complicated child custody battle in his home state of California that brings to light the issue of sperm donation and fathers’ legal rights. Who’s the daddy in a case where a male partner donates sperm to his girlfriend, but declines to have his name put on the birth certificate? Read more

Divorce & Co-Parenting Over Summer Vacation

Are you a co-parent? Then you know very well that the end of the school year and summer vacation are fast approaching with all the activities that entails.

It’s normal to feel a little stressed making the transition from the predictable schedule of the school to summer’s more relaxed pace. For divorced or separated parents, however, there is often added pressure as summer vacation forces parents to be in more frequent contact with one another. Read more

Saving for College: What Happens to a 529 Plan When You Divorce?

Your children may be too young to even know what career they would like to pursue, let alone know which college they want to attend. But if you and your spouse, like so many other parents, set up a designated 529 college savings plan, a tax-advantaged investment account used to help parents squirrel money away funds to cover the eventual cost a child attending college, you may be wondering what’s going to happen to this money now that you are getting a divorce. Your family’s situation is unique, of course, but here are a few common possibilities for dealing with a 529 plan during a divorce. Read more

Mother’s Day for Single Moms


It’s not Thanksgiving or Christmas, but Mother’s Day still can carry with it much of the same kind of emotional baggage that holidays and other family celebrations do when you are separated or newly divorced. Is this your first Mother’s Day since your split? Things may be very different this year, but one thing is the same: You are still a mom and you still deserve a special day.

How can you celebrate your new status as a single mom? Here are some ideas for how to create a day filled with joy. On the other hand, are you a dad wondering how to help your kids honor their mother, even if she is no longer your wife? We’ve got tips on how to make that happen, too. Read more

Bethenny Frankel Divorce: Who Prevails When Both Parents Want Custody?

The latest development in the contentious divorce between reality diva Bethenny Frankel and estranged husband Jason Hoppy is shaping up to be a nasty child custody fight over the couple’s 2-year old daughter Bryn. At issue is the claim on the part of both parents for sole custody of the little girl.

As the NY Post and sources report, “Jason has . . . requested sole custody of Bryn, just as Bethenny did when she initially filed. Jason doesn’t want to cut Bethenny out of his daughter’s life, and he recognizes that Bryn needs her mommy. Jason is agreeable to joint custody of Bryn, but Bethenny is absolutely balking. She wants sole custody of Bryn, period. No compromises. It makes no sense because Jason is a very active father and plans to be a huge part of his daughter’s life.” Read more

Divorce & Taxes: Who Can Claim Children As Dependents?

If this year marks the first time you are filing your taxes as a divorced parent, you may have questions about how issues such as child custody arrangements affect your ability to claim your children as dependents. Can you claim the kids even you don’t have primary custody? What about if you and your former spouse split custody 182 days each during the year — who gets to “write off” your child when the year is shared equally? Read more