Shared custody or joint custody may be an arrangement which is legal to grant rights to both the parents post their divorce. Though in documents it looks a smoother one in actual there are many challenges of children under shared custody. Joint custody maybe yearly or monthly or daily change of place for the child which gives rise to ample anxiety and stress in addition to in-adjustments. There are ample pros and cons of shared custody and the legal arrangement may have psychological impacts on the child too.
Divorce is painful and the child custody issues can make it more deplorable for the family. Thus keeping mind the options and also realistically opting for those which in your given set of conditions can be beneficial. Do not rush through the proceedings and take legal consultation for knowing what and how works best for your kind of circumstances.
Joint Custody Effects on a Child:
While joint custody is being vouched more and more these days for it brings both mother and father at equal responsibilities in raising a child. But it has several factors within which cause ample harm and psychological damage to kids. Some details on joint custody for children include:
- Joint custody can be a lousy compromise for conflicting parents. And it may not be ideally correct for psychological and physiological health of a child
- Though both mother and father get to participate in each and every aspect of raising the child. And no more the accountability is of just the mother. But there may be more to it, as ample times being just joint custodian both the parents may ignore any situation or issue with the child.
- Joint custody may also benefit the family too for the child stays at both parents places and gets to be in touch with both sides of their family specially grand-parents and other step siblings if any.
- Joint custody may not necessarily be half time at each parent. Also sometimes it gets annoying to keep on switching home
- A lot of logistic coordination is required for managing the joint custody of a child. And for long distance cases, it gets even more redundant.
- This helps in reducing the burden of solo parenting as single parents often suffer professionally. With joint custody going smooth it gets easier for both the parents to concentrate on their work too in addition to being a part of the child’s upbringing
Pros and Cons of Shared Custody:
There are ample pros and cons of joint custody which depend from case to case. For some this arrangement works out the best while for many this situation becomes even more painful for the child as well as the parents. Some joint custody effects of a child are very severed that it makes a psychological impact on their life.
Advantages of Joint Custody of Child:
There are several positive and life changing impacts that joint custody can bring in a child’s development. The kids are often more pleased to be able to stay with both the parents and they have ample benefits in terms of being close to both the parents and connecting with them both. Some more advantages of joint custody are:
1. Children get to spend time with both the parents:
This is the most ideal form of living any child of a divorced couple can have. Staying with both the parents gives them strong connect and bond with both parents despite their situation
2. Children enjoy love, care, and affection of both the parents:
In ideal joint custody situations, the children enjoy all the love and care from both the parents as they spent almost equal time with them both.
The kids may not be missing any parent in their life despite their parents’ divorce
3. The kids under joint custody have normal time with both parents:
The kids with just visitation rights or limited meetings with fathers are known to get more pampered and gifts as the parent often wishes to compensate for the lost time. This causes the other parent to be financially forced to match or feel less as despite spending more time they may not match with those gifts.
4. Joint custody limits the trauma of the children to some extent:
Under joint custody, the children get to spend time with both their parents which help in reducing the trauma of the parent’s divorce.
5. The loss of quality family time is not that apparent in joint custody:
As both, the parents are somehow still a part of the child’s life, so there is not loss of quality family time, just one difference the kid now gets to individually stay with either of the parents
Disadvantages of Joint Custody of a Child:
Though the shared custody arrangement seems more fulfilling from a child’s point of view, the majority of these cases don’t turn out the way they are drafted legally. Some disadvantages of joint custody of a child are:
1. Children are more like a traveler in joint custody:
They just don’t settle at one place and rather keep visiting both parents all the time. Their lives are more like a traveling salesman and they miss settling down at one place
2. There can be psychological chaos as the situations never go predictable for these kids. They constantly are shunting between the two parents who’s values, habits, and behaviors may be poles apart causing confusion for the child.
3. It is a costly and expensive affair as two full residences have to be maintained for the child. Clothes, furniture, toys, and other supplies have all to be duplicated for both the homes the child spends time at.
4. Joint custody can cause more conflicts between the already disturbed family:
Since the child goes at both the homes there may be disputes and quarrels. As both, the parents may get to meet often and the kids may speak about experiences at other places too. This can aggravate the situation thus causing more damage than benefit for the child
5. In joint custody, the parent may ignore the needs of a child considering the other parent would take care. This may cause unnecessary problems for the child.
Some Tips to Make Joint Custody of Children Work:
- Do not abuse or speak ill about the other parent, you may feel getting more close to the child but you are actually worsening their situation
- Be realistic about your schedule and plan, never miss your commitments towards your children. Specially at this stage when they long for more and more family time at both parents’
- Remember a bad spouse does not necessarily mean a bad parent so both of you must not judge each other
- You will have more interaction with your former partner so be sure the way and make it simple without causing any disturbance for the child
- Keep the necessary items at home for kids, and both the homes must have them set. Try to communicate with your former partner and then build up the supplies for your child
The above compilation on Effects of joint custody on children is to share details on how the legally resolved status of joint custody is actually. And what are the joint custody effects on a child. There is nothing more devastating for the child than oscillating between the un-concerned parents who have conflicts and disputes.
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