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Category: Children

Discover tips for supporting children during divorce in Nebraska. Navigate custody, co-parenting, and emotional well-being with our blogs.

Children

Discover tips for supporting children during divorce in Nebraska. Navigate custody, co-parenting, and emotional well-being with our blogs.

Mediation Mondays: How to Handle Extracurricular Activities in Your Parenting Plan

Extracurricular activities can play an important role in a child’s development, offering opportunities for social growth, discipline, and confidence. After a divorce, however, coordinating these activities can become more complicated when parents are managing two households and separate schedules. Including clear expectations about extracurricular activities in your parenting plan can help prevent misunderstandings and ensure your child continues to enjoy the activities that matter to them. One important consideration is how decisions about activities will be made. Some parenting plans specify that both parents must agree before a child enrolls in a new activity, while others allow each parent to
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Mediation Mondays: How to Communicate with Your Co-Parent After Divorce

Effective communication with your co-parent after divorce is essential for creating stability and consistency for your children. While emotions may still be high following a separation, focusing on respectful, child-centered communication can help both parents work together more effectively. Keeping conversations focused on your children’s needs, schedules, and well-being can help reduce unnecessary conflict and make co-parenting smoother for everyone involved. One helpful strategy is to keep communication clear, direct, and respectful. Sticking to the facts and avoiding emotionally charged language can prevent misunderstandings and unnecessary arguments. Many co-parents find it useful to communicate through text, email, or co-parenting apps
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Mediation Mondays: When Kids Are Watching—Modeling Conflict Resolution

Children notice more than we think. Even if they aren’t in the room, they can sense tension, overhear snippets of conversations, and pick up on the way their parents interact during conflict. For parents going through separation or divorce, every disagreement becomes a chance—consciously or not—to teach children how to handle challenges. Mediation offers a unique opportunity to model calm, respectful problem-solving, even in the most difficult of circumstances. Instead of seeing their parents argue in a courtroom or exchange heated words in the hallway, children can witness a process built on listening, cooperation, and compromise. This sends a powerful
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Mediation Mondays: Putting Kids First Without Putting Parents Last

When parents make the difficult decision to separate or divorce, their first thought is often: How will this affect our children? Child-centered mediation is designed with this concern in mind. It focuses on creating parenting plans and agreements that protect children’s emotional stability, reduce exposure to conflict, and ensure continuity in their routines and relationships. Mediation allows parents to work together—rather than against each other—to craft solutions that meet their children’s needs with care and intention. Still, prioritizing the best interests of your children doesn’t mean losing sight of your own voice. In child-centered mediation, both parents are encouraged to
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How to Successfully Co-Parent with a High-Conflict Ex

If you endured a high-conflict marriage and a high-conflict divorce, chances are you will be facing many of the same challenges when it comes to co-parenting with your ex. Here are some tips on how to successfully co-parent with a high-conflict ex: Control your reactions. Ongoing conflict between two people is pretty much a product of habit. To keep peace in your co-parented family, you need to break this habit. First, realize you only have control over you, so work on your communication skills by remembering to take the high road, no matter how nasty your ex may get on
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Watch for These Signs That Your Divorce is Hurting Your Kids

Divorce unleashes a lot of different emotions and many times adults are too caught up in their own pain and suffering to see the signs that your children are suffering, too. While adults have learned ways to cope, children have not yet developed coping mechanisms to help them deal with their emotions. Often, they don’t know how to even express what they are feeling, which is why parents must be extra vigilant in looking for signs that your children are suffering, including: Frequent emotional outbursts. Children who are having difficulties coping with their emotions about a divorce usually don’t know
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What Can and Can’t the Judge Do For You?

During a custody case, if you and your spouse are unable to agree on a parenting plan, the judge may have to make decisions regarding the parenting plan for you. If a judge becomes involved in custody decisions, it is important to keep in mind what the judge can and cannot do for you. General standard for custody cases: In general, judges are bound to make custody decisions based on the law and their interpretation of the law. Specifically, in Nebraska, custody decisions are made under the “best interests” standard, meaning judges make decisions based on what they believe will
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What Must Be Included In My Parenting Plan?

The Nebraska Parenting Act requires that a parenting plan is created for legal issues involving the custody of a child. While parents may choose to include a number of different agreements in their plan, there are some provisions that are required to be included. Below are 10 items which must be included in a parenting plan: Legal and Physical Custody. Your plan must state who has legal custody (the authority to make fundamental decisions on behalf of the child) and who has physical custody. Examples of some arrangements include the parents have joint legal custody while dad has physical custody,
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10 Golden Rules to Protect Your Kids During a Divorce

Ideally, parents going through a divorce make it a priority to work together to lessen the negative impact the divorce may have on their children.  Although it may be difficult for you to set aside your own marital differences during this stressful time, you can make the transition easier for your children if you follow these 10 rules: Don’t blame each other.  When you explain the divorce to your children, do it together and avoid blaming each other.  It is important for your children to love each parent unconditionally; placing blame makes it more likely a child will build up
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Alcohol Monitoring in Nebraska Custody Cases: What You Need to Know

In the midst of a divorce, particularly when child custody is involved, concerns about a co-parent’s alcohol use can add complexity to an already stressful situation. One option to address these concerns is the use of alcohol monitoring devices, which can provide peace of mind regarding a parent’s sobriety during their time with the children. What Is an Alcohol Monitoring Device? Alcohol monitoring devices, commonly handheld breathalyzers, are used to test and track a parent’s alcohol consumption. In custody cases, these devices may be required before, during, and after parenting time if there are concerns about a parent’s drinking habits.
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