Family Law Focus – Cozen O'Connor

Introducing A New Significant Other To Your Child During Divorce

shutterstock_165037775During the course of divorce it is fairly common for one (if not both) of the parties to become involved in a new relationship.  It is natural then for that party to want to spend time with his or her new love while also parenting the children of the marriage.  Is it wrong to mix the two?  And if so, when is it appropriate to introduce a new significant other to the kids?  I recently wrote a post about this for Avvo’s Naked Law Blog.  Click here to view the post where I discuss how a New Jersey Court offered some guidance on this difficult issue.  Simply put, the Court realized that children are not raised in a vacuum, and while it may be appropriate to put some restrictions on the amount of time this new third party spends with the children, especially in the beginning, barring any potential danger that this party may cause to the kids, it may not be appropriate to create any type of permanent restrictions.  As I commented, it is important that the divorcing parties keep the best interests of the children, and not their own self-interest, paramount.  If this is the case, there is a strong likelihood that they will not only be able to resolve this issue, but most custody issues, with little strife.

 

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