You’ll have many concerns as you move into the divorce process. While some are easy to deal with as they come up, others are much more complex. For instance, telling your children about your divorce is easier said than done.
Once you lay everything out on the table, you should expect your children to have questions. If they don’t, encourage them to share their feelings with you. The last thing you want is for your children to keep their true feelings bottled up inside.
As you prepare to discuss your divorce with your children, here are five questions you should expect to answer:
- Why is this happening? You don’t have to go into the finer details of your divorce, but you should provide basic information on what the process entails and what comes next.
- Was it my fault? It’s common for a child to believe that they are responsible for the divorce. It’s important to let your children know that they have nothing to do with your split.
- Where will I live? Your children may know enough about divorce to realize that they’ll no longer be living with you and your soon-to-be ex-spouse. If you have an idea about where your children will live, share it with them. If you don’t, refrain from saying anything. As long as you comfort them, letting them know they’ll have a safe place to live, everything will work out.
- Will you get back together in the future? Even if this is a possibility in your mind, don’t give your children reason to believe this will happen. You don’t want them to have false hope, as it will only make things worse in the weeks, months and years to follow.
- When is everything going to happen? This is when it makes sense to explain the timeline to the best of your ability. Since you probably don’t know exactly what will come next, you can vaguely outline the process and when to expect changes.
Even though these are the most common questions children ask about divorce, you may hear many others. You may not have the perfect answer, but you should always do your best to provide feedback.
Once you and your children are on the same page, you’ll feel better about moving forward with the divorce process and protecting your legal rights in Florida.