Child Custody News

Book Helps Turn Custody Battles Into Parenting Partnerships

SAN JOSE, Calif., January 29, 2002 — Divorcing families have a better chance of having a positive outcome for children and parents if they use mediation without judges and lawyers, rather than costly child custody court battles, claims Child Custody: Achieving a Parenting Partnership, a book to be released in the spring by Resource Publications, Inc. With more than half of all marriages likely to end in divorce, a process to guide divorcing families toward positive results is necessary, the authors write. This process should be governed by rules set forth in a contract to be signed by the divorcing couple in agreement to become “parenting partners.”

The book says parenting partners should “work together cooperatively and supportively in a businesslike manner to share the responsibilities and benefits of involved parenting.”  “We have developed a process that guides divorcing families toward divorcing in a manner that does not leave the family shattered and the family members so wounded that they never recover,” the Dimicks write. Also, by having a written contract, divorced couples will have “clear-cut rules to live by as they continue to explore and negotiate better ways to meet changes ahead,” the authors write. This contract governs two major areas of concern: financial planning and parent sharing, they add.

Child Custody takes divorced couples through the divorce and parenting partner processes step by step, using questionnaires, descriptions of various scenarios, and lists. It discusses such typically sensitive and controversial issues as what to do with the marital home, how to divide marital assets, debt payment, child support, discipline, school involvement, and how to handle celebrations and family traditions.  Also, it contains stories and examples based on real situations that divorced couples have gone through and provides a list of recommended readings. This step-by-step approach “integrates the newest research with our own 20 years of clinical practice working with divorcing and divorced families,” the authors say.

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	Did You Know?
	Nonbiological parents can be awarded custody. Nonbiological parents have been awarded custody by the courts in cases of child abandonment or chronic child abuse. Judges can award custody to anyone with an interest in the child, such as stepparents, godparents, aunts, uncles, and surrogates, who can introduce evidence as to why they would be the better custodians than the natural parent(s). Click Here to Find a Nationwide Child Custody Attorney to Handle your Child Custody Case Today!