Divorce is undoubtedly a difficult process for any family, especially those with children, but there are ways to lessen the impact. Whether it’s ensuring civil communication between the parents or presenting a united message to their children, many parents strive to make the divorce as easy on their children as possible. One couple has made national news for taking this positive attitude to the extreme.
A recent CNN article describes the plan by divorced parents Victoria Baldwin and Adam Dyson to continue family portraits with their son, Bruce, despite their divorce several years ago. Victoria and Adam started the family portraits when Victoria was pregnant with Bruce and continued with them after his birth. Following their divorce in the spring of 2015, Victoria realized it was time for the family portrait and she reached out to Adam, who accepted the invitation.
Victoria admits that things are not perfect between she and Adam but that it was important for the parents to continue to provide a loving co-parenting relationship for Bruce. In a Facebook post, Victoria stated: “”We are not in love, we don’t always agree, we’re not best friends, sometimes we don’t even like one another…. But you know what we are? We are forever connected because of our beautiful, smart, kind, compassionate, funny son.”
The post went viral with many praising the parents’ plan to co-parent for Bruce’s benefit and to continue the family portraits. Adam and Victoria even agreed that if one of them remarries or starts a long-term relationship those new partners would simply be added to the family portrait.
In North Carolina family law cases, Judges expect parents to co-parent with one another despite their differences. Given this expectation, Child Custody Orders often set forth minimum standards for co-parenting such as requirements on sharing information, prohibitions on parents speaking negatively about one another in the presence of a child, and other parenting rules which seek to encourage a positive co-parenting relationship. Parents can always go beyond these bare minimum requirements and often find that their children benefit far more when parents work together rather than against one another. During Child Custody trials Judges also often examine each parent’s willingness, or lack thereof, to co-parent and can make a custody ruling favoring the parent who is willing to co-parent.
To speak with an attorney about your North Carolina family law case, please contact us at (704) 810-1400 to schedule a consultation with one of our Charlotte divorce lawyers.