One common question that married couples often need to face is whether they should stay together for their kids. In many cases, there may be equally convincing arguments for getting a divorce or staying together. The decision will ultimately depend on your situation and whether you think you and your spouse will be able to meet your children’s needs after your divorce. Before you decide on how to proceed, you may want to consider how your divorce will affect your children and whether other factors will play a role in your case.

The Effects of Divorce on Children

Studies suggest that divorce can have substantial short-term effects on children. These may include:

• Emotional disturbances, such as anxiety, anger, and stress

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If you are going through the divorce process and working with your spouse, your respective lawyers, and/or the judge to determine how to allocate parental responsibilities, you will want to give serious thought to the development of an effective parenting plan that protects your children’s best interests while maintaining your rights as a parent. Here are some things to consider when devising such a plan:

How Do You Create the Right Parenting Plan?

The right parenting plan can make things a whole lot easier for everyone, including both parents and children. However, developing a fair parenting plan that is beneficial for everyone involved can be challenging. In fact, parents often cannot agree on the terms of the parenting plan, and the court may need to intervene and make decisions about the allocation of parental responsibilities and parenting time, which might not be nearly as beneficial to those involved. In most cases, it is recommended to work with your lawyer and the other parent to create an effective and agreeable parenting plan. When creating your parenting plan, you will want to keep the following issues in mind:

1. Always Consider Your Children’s Best Interests—You must put yourself in your children’s shoes. With every term you put in the plan, consider how it will affect your children. If you think a certain stipulation will stress your child out or cause undue emotional turmoil, then you will want to rethink its objectives. There could be better ways to achieve the same goals that will not be as traumatic to the children. Also, if your child is particularly mature, you may even want to ask them their opinion. You would be surprised at how good they are at knowing what is in their best interests.

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If you have children and are getting a divorce, you will need to work together with the other parent on the allocation of parental responsibilities. Overall, this allocation requires deliberation upon four main facets of a child’s life and all of the parental duties associated with each area. While there could be other additional topics that the court and the parents might consider, these four cover most of the child’s needs.

What Categories Are Considered When Allocating Parental Responsibilities?

While custody decisions will determine the specifics of both parents’ time with their children, including differences in schedules based on holidays and vacations, there are also some other subjects that need to be discussed throughout the process. Specifically, when allocating parental responsibilities, all parties involved must consider responsibilities for these four main categories, the particular elements of which would be further detailed in the parenting plan:

1. Education—This involves everything regarding the child’s schooling, such as:

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If you or your spouse have been diagnosed with a chronic or terminal illness, this can affect many aspects of your life and your marriage. Some of these major changes in your marriage might eventually lead to a divorce. Understanding how an illness can affect a relationship can help you determine the best way to proceed if you feel that divorce is your best option.

The Facts About Divorce and Major Illnesses

Multiple studies have analyzed the statistics surrounding the effects of chronic or terminal illness on marriages and divorce rates. In particular, the findings suggest that:

• As expected, higher ages result in an increased likelihood of illness.

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There are all sorts of reasons that couples may decide to live together without getting married. They might be opposed to marriage on some moral grounds, they could just want to try living together first before they officially “take the plunge,” or perhaps they simply do not want to deal with all the complications that come with marriage—from an overwhelming wedding to an array of legal and religious considerations. Whatever the case may be, there are plenty of people out there who cohabitate as unmarried partners. Unfortunately, living together does not grant you the same rights you would have as married spouses. In order to have some similar legal protections as you would if you were married, you would need to develop and sign a cohabitation agreement.

Cohabitation Agreement: Defined

A cohabitation agreement is a legal arrangement agreed to by both parties who live together. Couples who feel strongly enough about each other that they decide to live together may run the risk of losing some of the things that are protected through marriage. By signing a cohabitation agreement, a couple can receive similar protections for their property and finances that marriage offers.

Reasons to Get a Cohabitation Agreement As more couples are cohabiting before or instead of marriage, the idea of cohabitation agreements is becoming more appealing. Here are some major reasons to consider getting a cohabitation agreement if you live with your romantic partner: