Marlton Family Law Blog

You have heard of contentious divorces that involve drama, shouting and lengthy battles in court. Your divorce does not have to end up like this, but you can face other unique challenges when dealing with a passive-aggressive spouse. This type of behavior can slow down your divorce or even derail your efforts completely. 

If you are dealing with a spouse who is acting passive aggressively during your divorce, you have special challenge ahead of you. At this point, you will want to prepare for what is ahead and plan for your divorce, knowing that you may have to set aside your own temporary emotions when dealing with your spouse. With the right focus, you can secure a final divorce order that allows you to have stability and security going forward. 

There may be times when the best way to keep a relationship intact is to separate. Some couples have said they became better friends and had better relationships with each other after divorce. Some New Jersey spouses might actually excel at divorce and become better in many ways -- including co-parenting their children. When parents place the love they have for their children above anything else, they usually find a way to be civil to each other and in some instances, become friends in the process.

When former spouses agree to keep parenting issues and their one-time marriage issues separate, they might find they actually get along much better. Keeping frustrations away from children not only helps them, but may actually help former spouses to get along as they co-parent their kids. When former spouses communicate about their children, it quickly teaches the children they can't pit one parent against the other.

There's an old adage that says the fruit doesn't fall far from the tree. But can the same be said about divorce? Are New Jersey adult children that come from parents who divorce more likely to end up divorcing as well? Experts have found that although that is sometimes the case, there are also cases in which the opposite is true -- adult children often look at their parents' relationships and vow never to make those mistakes themselves.

Researchers have been chronicling children of divorce for years. It's true that there is a connection between parents' and their children's divorces. It seems, too, that children who come from divorce are more likely to marry a partner who has also experienced divorce. Research has also shown that divorce has a genetic component, but only relating to character traits that may be untenable in a marriage.

Not all marriages last a lifetime and some parents whose marriages do break down end their unions in an atmosphere of volatile emotions and high conflict. In New Jersey and elsewhere, this can be particularly difficult for children whose parents are going through this kind of a divorce. One parent may be angrier than the other and it's important to protect children from these kinds of hurtful emotions.

Having a former spouse who is angry and hostile makes it difficult to arrange things like visitation and health care for kids and to fashion a co-parenting plan that is in children's best interests. Family court is not equipped to deal with issues regarding individual relationships before, during or after divorce, and court orders only work when people obey them, rather than defy them, which is sometimes the case when one parent is being belligerent. Experts say the best way of dealing with an indignant former spouse is not to feed into his or her negative actions and expect his or her actions to change.