What Actually Happened? Two brothers asked their mother if they could meet their father at a grocery store that was two blocks away from the house. The mother agreed to allow the boys to meet their father at the store. While the store was only a short distance from the…
When You’re Legally the Child’s Parent Your ability to get custody of a stepchild would largely depend on whether or not you’re legally the child’s parent. In most cases, stepparents are not legally considered to be a child’s parents. Per the law, a child can only have two legal parents….
Consider Marriage In some situations, it may be in your best interests to get married before the baby’s born, especially if you are already committed to the mother and you both want to be involved in the baby’s life. Marriage will likely be the most effective way to ensure that…
Extended Co-Sleeping DCFS likely won’t think anything of a bassinet in your room, especially if you just had a baby. However, they might not be excited about extended co-sleeping. Many parents choose to share a room with their newborn baby for the first three to six months, as the baby…
Wait, Who Owns the Phone Anyway? Technically, whoever buys the phone owns the phone. While there are some loopholes and caveats, the general rule of thumb is that children don’t own anything. So even if a child does buy a phone, that might not mean that they own the phone,…
After the Divorce Is Finalized Just because the divorce is finalized doesn’t mean that you will never have to go to court ever again. Often times, when a couple has children together, the couple will have disagreements that arise, and those disagreements may need to be dealt with in court…
What Is Reunification Therapy? Reunification therapy is a specific type of therapy that focuses on reuniting children with their estranged parents. The primary goal of reunification therapy is to re-establish the bond between the child and the parent. For example, if you were battling a substance abuse disorder and were…
Can parents legally go through their child’s phone? What if the child bought it with their own money? Wait—can children even own a phone in the first place? And what happens to the phone when parents get divorced? Who gets to say what the rules are? When it comes to…
Can your spouse stop you from seeing the kids? You may have heard your spouse say something like, “You’ll never see these kids again!” However, that may not be 100% true. It turns out that it’s actually very difficult for a parent to completely remove the other parent from the…
Can You Keep a Pregnancy Secret from the Father? If you find out that you’re pregnant, can you keep the pregnancy and child a secret from the biological father? Most people are surprised to find that there aren’t laws in each state that mandate that a mother has to contact…
How to Survive and Thrive When Your Marriage Ends