Metairie Family Law Blog

Any Louisiana resident who has gone through a divorce understands the emotional toll it can take, particularly if there are children involved. The turmoil of a major life change can be exacerbated by concerns about the impact to the children. It can be easy to let emotions take control, but maintaining one's perspective is best for everyone involved. Here are some important tips that may help a parent minimize the stress that can come with divorce.

First, don't place blame. While it may feel good to bash your ex, it is unfair to try to alienate the children against their other parent. It creates confusion for the children and may lead them to hide their feelings from you in the future. Likewise, do not look at custody as a battle to be won. If you find yourself arguing with your ex about the children's schedule or a change in plans, ask yourself why you are upset. It is one thing if the arrangement is bad for the children. However, if you are simply frustrated about being inconvenienced, you need to remember it's about them, not you.

Since Louisiana is a community-property state, unless otherwise indicated, property division, including real estate, is equitable. However, coordinating with a divorcing couple to effectively sell property can be easier said than done. A recent newspaper article reveals that this niche, selling property during a divorce, has become a specialty among some real estate professionals.

Issues, such as restraining orders, locked portions of homes and one spouse's desire to thwart a sale, are particularly sticky and require a great deal of experience to overcome. However, selling a home during a divorce is difficult even in amicable situations since the timing can hurt the home's value. Buyers who suspect a pending divorce tend to expect bargains. Therefore, experienced Realtors will carefully stage a home by filling closets and leaving carefully placed "props" throughout.

In today's society, many couples in Louisiana and in other states opt to create a partnership without formalizing the relationship, and they even bring children into their union. While this arrangement might offer some conveniences, it certainly brings disadvantages with it as well. One family lawyer explained in a recent piece on the topic that a couple must first be married if they are going to get a divorce. He added that the same piece of paper from the government that makes a couple man and wife also affords them legal protection.

He further elaborated that if a couple never marries, the man won't owe the wife spousal support if they separate. Alimony acts as transitional support so that she can reestablish herself financially, but she loses that benefit if they aren't married although he will need to pay child support. Additional legal benefits of marriage include inheritance, health insurance and equitable distribution of assets. In this case, he said, the biggest loser is usually the woman, who may give up career prospects to raise a child.

The Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion reported that a recently completed study indicates the divorce of religious parents can cause children to leave their church. The impact on those young people who left a house of faith was twice as great for the children of divorced parents as for those whose parents did not divorce.

The study confirms the link between divorce and a child's future religious behavior that has been established by other research; however, prior studies did not look at the religion of the parents as a factor. The professor who spearheaded the study speculated that those children may believe the marriage was planned by God, so they decrease their adult church attendance because of the divorce.