The Effect of Divorce on Children

Today divorce has become a way of life. Couples opt for divorce on small issues, completely unaware of its repercussions on their children. It was found that more than 15 million children in US experienced the trauma of divorce of their parents.

Children experiencing divorce of their parents undergo a lot of stress. There can be tremendous psychological effects ranging from depression to extreme anger. It is hard to imagine a more difficult phase in a child’s life.

Many psychologists and sociologists have studied and researched on children and divorce. The effect of divorce on the children depends on the age of the child at the time of divorce. It also depends on the gender and personality of the child.

Some of the common effects of divorce on the children are:

• Infants may lose their appetite or suffer from bad stomach due to the conflicts between their parents.
• Preschooler may become disobedient and violent because they frequently believe that they are the reason behind the divorce
• School going children are grown up enough to understand their pain because of the divorce of their parents. However, they are unable to manage their reactions and suffer from grief, humiliation, bitterness, anger etc.
• Teenagers are more severely affected by the separation of their parents. They suffer from extreme anger, fear, loneliness, depression, guilt etc. They loose their innocence if pushed to take responsibility of many new things. Teens are grown enough to understand the cause of the separation. The whole incident can have negative impact on the teen’s life and they may even doubt their own ability to stay in marriage.

Whatever differences the parents are having should not affect the child’s life. If at all parents decide to separate they should help the children to adjust with the situation. You should share the truth and try to win the trust of the child which will help you in strengthening your relationship.

Divorce - A Brief Overview

Divorce is a legal termination or you can say legal end of a marriage. Divorce takes place when a married couple decides that they can’t live together anymore and marriage doesn’t serve any purpose anymore.

It may sound easy that a married couple opt for divorce when they find that they can’t live together anymore but in reality it is not that easy. Divorce is an awful experience. Couple has to go through a lot of emotional and mental turmoil. The whole family gets disturbed. Children are severely affected by the divorce.

Divorce also involves a lot of legal procedures. Filling divorce forms, making divorce papers and court hearing etc can be tiring procedures. There are numerous issues associated with divorce which have to be settled like property settlement, financial settlement and child custody etc.

If a couple has already decided to go for a divorce and want to know what are the legal procedures? Your states divorce law will decide the legal procedures you have to go through.

A few states in US do not have laws that allow a couple to separate legally until a court decides otherwise. In such case with the help of your attorney file a petition with the court requesting a hearing on your marriage. In these hearings you can demand for a temporary separation agreement. If your state law allows separating legally then your attorney will petition the courts for a separation agreement.

Many a times couples are unable to settle their differences over property, money child and divorce custody etc peacefully. They fight over these issues and they are even ready for long court battle.

Surely divorce has negative effects on the couple, their children and their families. Therefore, divorce should be kept as a last option.