Separation and divorce have a profound impact on families. The stress can be overwhelming as parents struggle to take care of the emotional and financial needs of their children and themselves.
This information helps parents guide their children through separation and divorce, and calculate a child support amount to cover the costs of raising their children.
Using This Guide
This parent’s guide is a companion to A Kid’s Guide to Separation and Divorce and a Teen Guide to Separation and Divorce. Telling the Children, Feelings and Emotions, and Dealing with Change provide information to help you to:
- Detach your feelings about the separation from your parental responsibilities.
- Understand your children’s need to have a relationship with the other parent.
- Communicate effectively with your children.
- Help your children cope with the family break up.
The Child Support section of this guide will help parents make an agreement about child support without going to court. It answers questions about who pays for child support and how to calculate the right amount. It also deals with different parenting arrangements, special or extraordinary expenses, when child support ends, and what to do if a parent doesn’t want to pay child support.