shlep: the Self-Help Law ExPress

 Holiday spirits are put to the test in mid-December at family courts across the nation, as divorced or separated parents battle over how and where their children spend various portions of the holiday season.  While serving as law guardian for many children caught in the middle of such disputes, I saw how often the parents placed their own emotional/ego needs ahead of the needs of the children — and, how often lawyers made things worse by stoking the yuletide fires.  The South Carolina Family Law Blog has a number of recent postings that might help to avoid court or to bring out the estranged parents’ better spirits.  (via Kansas Family Law Blog)

  Their Dec. 15 posting Tips to Help Divorced Parents Avoid Holiday Visitation Issues has some good advice, and is based on this article by Dr. Ruth Peters, which covers keeping it civil, accommodating schedules, coordinating gifts, respecting each others’ religious traditions, and more.  The posting Ten Tips to Minimize Divorce Trauma During the Holidays is also worth reading by parents and, if they have them, their lawyers. [via California Divorce and Family Law weblog]  You can find a link to an article on Holiday Blended Families issues, here.   I suggest you wait until after the holidays to deal with Tax Deductions and Non-Custodial Parents.

Family Advocate magazine, from the ABA’s Family Law Section, often has excellent materials on parenting after divorce and finding alternatives to ugly divorces. Many editions are turned into Client Manuals.  For example, check out:

• Client Manual: What Your Children Need . . . Now! 
• Client Manual: My Parents Are Getting Divorced

 Here are my own Tips on Parenting-Apart, which I used with a course for separated parents.  If you’ve been warring with your “ex” over parenting issues, consider changing your ways in the New Year — for the sake of your children.