You love your kids, but it’s been tough seeing your ex-spouse every time you have to pick them up or drop them off. You hated that your marriage ended the way it did, but despite your best intentions, you and your ex simply don’t get along.
Now, you’ve found it difficult to pick up and drop off your children, all because your ex-spouse is so focused on picking a fight every time you’re there. You just want to make things easier. What can you do?
To avoid fights when exchanging custody, try these methods
If you want to avoid fights when you’re exchanging custody, one good tip is to stay in your vehicle. If your kids are old enough, they can walk up to their other parent’s front door and let themselves inside. A simple text or call to check that they got inside safely allows you to leave without a confrontation.
Another option is to limit discussions about problems to a court-monitored messaging system. If you’re truly having trouble exchanging custody without a fight, then using a messaging system gives you a different place to handle frustrations with a third party looking on. This method allows conversations to be tracked, limiting the risk of a full-on dispute that becomes nasty.
Finally, if push comes to shove, you may like using a neutral drop-off point, like a mall, a police station, a firehouse, the library or another public location. Some places, like police stations, may have waiting areas where your child can be dropped off to wait for their other parent. Other areas simply give you a better place to exchange custody where people are around, so a dispute is less likely. Your attorney can talk to you more about additional options if disputes continue to be a problem.
