If you and your spouse have children but are contemplating obtaining a Michigan divorce, the way in which you will handle custody arrangements likely represents one of your major concerns. Basically you have two options: sole custody by one of you or joint custody by both of you.
StatNews.com reports that in most cases, joint custody represents the best choice because it provides many benefits not only to your children, but also to you and your about-to-be former spouse.
Children’s benefits
You can expect your kids to benefit from joint custody in the following ways:
- They get to maintain a meaningful relationship with both parents.
- They get to maintain meaningful relationships with their grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins, etc. on both sides of their family
- They will suffer and exhibit fewer negative effects before, during and after your divorce and their nuclear family’s break-up
- They likely will do better in school, maintaining their current study habits and grade point averages
- They likely will continue to make wise choices when choosing their friends
- They likely will have a higher resistance to peer pressure when it comes to alcohol and drug usage.
Parental benefits
Post-divorce joint custody also offers you and your former spouse the chance to work together for the benefit of your children, resulting in the following parental advantages:
- A better chance for the two of you to establish and maintain a civil post-divorce relationship
- A better chance that both of you will adhere to the parenting time arrangement you agreed to
- A better chance that you will better cooperate in the event of emergencies
The top parental advantage to a joint custody arrangement, however, consists of the fact that both you and your children’s other parent can have the satisfaction of knowing that you are rearing happy, content children secure in the love of both of their parents.
This is general educational information and not intended to provide legal advice.
