There are times when grandparents step in and play a major role in their grandchildren’s lives. If you believe that your grandchildren are struggling in their home due to neglect or abuse, you may petition for custody. Similarly, if one parent passes away, you may seek visitation rights, so you can continue to see them regularly.

In most divorce cases, grandparent visitation rights are kept informal. It’s not typical for grandparents to be restricted from seeing their grandchildren. However, legal issues could arise in some cases. That’s why it’s smart to clarify your relationship with your grandchild and to make sure that you have the legal rights that you are entitled to receive.

Are grandparents likely to get custody of their grandchildren?

In divorce cases, it’s unlikely that grandparents will receive outright custody of their grandchildren. As long as both parents are providing for them, grandparents may only be able to seek to establish a visitation order. To do this, you will have to show that visitation time with your grandchild is in your grandchild’s or grandchildren’s best interests.

When co-parenting with an ex-spouse, there’s no shortage of challenges that will come to light. Some of them are easier to deal with than others, but all of them require some level of attention.

Should you come to find that co-parenting disputes are far more common than they should be, it’s time to take action. Here are some of the things you can do:

• Talk to your ex-spouse: Yes, this can be a challenge, but sharing your feelings may be the best way to get back on track. Explain your concerns, talk about potential resolutions and hear them out. One conversation may be all it takes to get things back on track.
• Review your parenting plan and visitation agreement: You’ll find a lot of information here pertaining to physical custody, legal custody, where your children will spend holidays and visitation schedules.
• Try something new: You can’t do this without your ex, but it’s something to consider if you’re willing and able to talk things out. For example, if the current visitation schedule isn’t working for your ex, maybe you can adjust the pick-up and drop-off times by a few hours. Small changes like this can go a long way in reducing tension.

Is a child custody modification necessary?

It’s your hope that you don’t have to go down this path, as it can cause additional tension between you and your ex. However, if you’ve tried everything else and are still in the same place, it’s an option to consider.

If you’re going to adopt, you need to prepare your home. On one hand, this is simply a realistic goal; you’re going to be adding a new child and you need to make sure you’re ready. On the other hand, you have to consider the home study and the legal side of getting approved for the adoption. Getting your house in order helps you work through this process.

But what do you need to do to make sure that your home is ready? A few things to keep in mind include the following:

• Check to make sure the child has his or her own room that is large enough to satisfy the guidelines. Most standard bedrooms will work, but double-check to be sure.
• Go over all of the systems and amenities that the room needs to have. This could include things like a working window, an egressed window if the room is in a basement, access to heat and AC, proper electrical power, and the like.
• Check the safety regulations, especially relating to fire. Does the room have a fire alarm? Does it work? Do you want to add a carbon monoxide alarm as well?
• Add child-proofing to your home, if needed. This depends on the age of the child. If you’re adopting an older child, you don’t have to change much. For young children and infants, though, you want things like baby gates, outlet covers, locks on cabinets and more.
• Clean your home so that it is tidy inviting. Sure, you can technically pass the inspection if the home is cluttered and messy. However, you want to remember how important first impressions are. Try to create the best possible impression when the child services worker steps in the door. They want to place children in homes that are safe, comfortable, inviting and loved.

Getting the house ready for the inspection isn’t really about the inspection; it’s about the child. After you do this, your home will really be ready for that child to enter your life and things will go smoothly for all of you. Keep that big picture in mind.

Divorce is expensive in an of itself and can have long-lasting financial implications for the spouses. Not only will the divorcing spouses have to pay court costs, but they will generally have to divide their resources as a part of the process.

Keeping costs low is a priority for some couples, while securing a fair and reasonable outcome is of the utmost importance to others. The higher your family's overall assets and the greater the value of your marital estate, the more important accuracy and fairness become.

When you have significant, valuable assets, that wealth can be an adequate motive for your spouse to try to hide assets from you in the hope that the courts won't force them to share the value of those assets with you.

If you have made the decision to move forward with divorce, you understand there are certain changes you will experience. Regardless of your income level and how amicable you may be with your spouse, it is probable you will experience some financial disruption. There are things you can do now that will help you prepare for what is ahead, allowing you to lay the foundation for a strong post-divorce future.

The choices you make during divorce will have an impact on you for years to come. Divorce is a complex process, and it's easy to see how some may allow their emotions to drive their decision-making during this process. How you feel in the moment is not indicative of what makes the most sense long-term, and preparing for your divorce will help you keep your focus on what is most important.

What should you do?