Shared Parenting And Children

If both of you have decided to have a divorce you will still be partners (although often unwilling partners) in rearing your children. If you have children together, you are always connected with your partner. No matter how awful your divorce gets, and how difficult your spouse seems, you are still parents together. Your roles as parents and your partnership continue even after your separation, not just until the children are grown. Events like birthdays, graduations, weddings, divorces, etc. These will take you back into your co-parenting role. You can’t get out of it. So you might as well make the best of it.

What Is Shared Parenting?

Shared parenting is a collaborative arrangement in child custody or divorce determinations in which the care of the child is fair or more than considerably shared between the biological parents. Shared parenting arrangements are viewed by most people as a way to encourage children to know both parents are actively involved and shared responsibility in their upbringing.

Shared custody is about shared responsibility for child support. Parents need to collaborate to do what is best for their children. Most of the time, when parents work together and share responsibilities children will spend significant moments with both parents. However, shared parenting is not just about the number of hours children spend with each parent although it is a significant consideration in the development of post separation parenting arrangements.

Advantages Of Shared Parenting:

  • Shared parenting helps the child to grow in a family environment, which creates significant and long lasting relationship with both parents.
  • Children recover more rapidly from the emotional trauma of parents’ divorce when they keep close connection with their both parents.
  • This helps the child to feel secure that he/she also has two parents like the rest of the children. Even though both parents live separately, they have a home with each of them.
  • Shared parenting makes children feel loved and not let the child feel like just one of the parents is caring and the other is absent or errant.
  • It also makes sure that the parents share the responsibility of the child fairly. This also makes sure that one of the parents doesn’t get overburdened with the whole responsibility of the child.

Shared Parenting Council In Australia

Shared Parenting Council of Australia has a principle which allows all children’s fundamental human right to an equal opportunity and relationship with both their mother and father following separation or divorce. This organisation was integrated in September 2002 as a representative body for a number of parent, children, church and family law reform organisations who view the same purpose of prescribing in shared parenting law.

Shared Parenting Law

The Howard government passed shared-care legislation late in 2006. It requires the family court to suppose that the best interests of children are met by having a relationship with both parents after divorce, unless there is violence. However, concerns have been suggested that the laws lock conflict parents together and leave some women exposed to violent ex-husbands. The laws are currently being studies by the Australian Institute of Family States.

The concept of shared parenting has changed the idea of “custody” or sole ownership of children. Principles include:

  • Children have a right to know both parents and to grow up with the love, care and support of both parents
  • Children have the right to be protected from harm or any form of danger.
  • Parenting is a responsibility to be fairly shared, provided this does not put children at risk.
  • Parents should be able to work out together what is best for their children.

In Australian law, there have been changes to the Family Law Act just to ensure that shared parenting is considered an option when parents decided to separate. Based on studies, it shows that shared parenting is possible even though there is conflict present between parents. Working toward equal parenting in each ways leads at first to little life changes in happiness. However, when both parents are fully adjusted, a positive change is possible. Equally shared parenting can be very great if both parents put their focus to making it work. Children benefit from having a meaningful relationship with both parents and spending quality time with them.

In addition, according to research, children of separated parents who kept meaningful relationships with each parent are the children that find it easier to deal with the separation of their parents.

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