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.
When this type of individual communicates in a demeaning fashion, it’s best to ignore it since an angry former spouse wants to get some sort of reaction to his or her bad behavior. Often a parenting coordinator might be able to help in the situation and if face-to-face meetings are nasty at best, it may be wise to keep communication to emails or texts. It might also be a good idea to seek help from a family therapist on how to deal with a former spouse who has anger issues.
It’s important to seek protection from an angry former spouse and to protect children from that anger. Parents should always have the children’s well-being at heart. A New Jersey attorney might be able to provide a client with the tools and guidance to do so. Divorce is not easy on children to begin with and adding a parent with a fiery temper to the mix may make it even more difficult.