Co-Parenting With A Difficult Ex In Los Angeles: Real-World Strategies That Work

In this article, you can discover…

• How setting healthy boundaries can improve co-parenting.
• The role of parenting apps in navigating a difficult co-parent relationship.
• How to protect your children while co-parenting with a problematic ex.

How Do Setting Healthy Boundaries Improve Co-Parenting With A Difficult Ex?

Healthy boundaries are the key to successful co-parenting. After a divorce, everyone and everything is in flux. For example, the other parent used to live with you, and now they don’t. Where is that new boundary?

What those healthy boundaries look like will depend greatly on where you are with the other parent. For some co-parents, the healthiest way to communicate is through co-parenting apps, where everything is documented. For others, weekly update calls are appropriate. Some co-parents will continue daily communication. Communication styles may also depend on the ages of your children; young children often require more frequent communication between parents than older children or teenagers.

The best protection for yourself, the co-parenting relationship, and your children are well executed, detailed, clear orders from a family court.

In all likelihood, one or both of you will eventually begin to date again, and this can cause new tensions. Establishing healthy boundaries and good communication early on can help mitigate some of that tension down the road.

What Role Do Parenting Apps And Shared Custody Calendars Play In High-Conflict Custody Arrangements?

Parenting apps can be immensely helpful. The two main apps used by co-parents are “Talking Parents” and “Our Family Wizard”. Both work similarly and record communications between you and the other parent. Some apps also have expense-tracking tools built in, joint calendars, and tone readers to help reduce snark or aggression in conversations.

These apps will have a free version and a paid version. My strong advice is to upgrade to the paid version. It is well worth the cost, you will end up saving money in the long run in litigation costs. Additionally, these apps have a wealth of helpful features. The paid version will help streamline co-parenting, save all communications and receipts, and can save you considerable money over relying solely on your attorney for clear communication.

Attorney Jordana Better is a hard-working, knowledgeable family law attorney serving California. Since 2016, she’s helped clients just like you navigate co-parenting with a difficult or manipulative ex, helping protect their children, legal interests, and futures.

Have questions, or in need of legal help? Reach out to the Law Office of Jordana N. Better for an initial consultation today.

How Can I Protect My Children From Emotional Harm While Co-Parenting With A Toxic Ex?

Frankly, the best time to determine whether or not a person would be a good parent is before you bring a child into the world together. After childbirth, the other parent has certain automatic legal rights.

And the standard that California courts use for identifying “poor parenting” is actually quite low. Poor parenting must be causing emotional distress for your child or jeopardizing their physical safety. Apart from this, you have very little control over what the other parent does.

If you have concerns over poor communication, manipulation, or emotional damage, your best response is to document everything said between you and the other parent through a co-parenting app. This can help serve as evidence to a court that the other parent is behaving in ways that are harming your child.

When Should I Consider Mediation Or Going Back To Court For Co-Parenting Disputes?

Mediation can be used for a lot of different things, and many types of mediation exist. For example, meditation during a divorce could mean you are collaboratively trying to resolve your divorce with the other party, with or without attorneys.

My law firm also offers mediation, and this may give you the outcomes that are best suited for your family and your family’s dynamics. Mediation require two people to come to significant agreements together, and this does not always happen. In such cases, going through the court system may be the better option.

In the court system mediation still occurs, but it’s a different kind of mediation. Your attorney’s will negotiate settlement as a type of mediation, for example. You could also use a mediator while you’re in the process of the court system to try to work out a decision. Once you’re in the court system, your options are to come to an agreement or to go to trial.

Before you go to trial, the court will still force you to go through mediation. Some counties in California have attorneys who work as mediators, while others mediate with the help of a judge. The courts really want you and the other party to work things out; they do not want to be the ones to make decisions for your family.

As an attorney, my personal and professional preference is for settlements. Settling can help you get closer to what you want and will work for your family; the court orders may not do that. Court orders tend to be very black and white, and don’t generally take specific family dynamics into consideration.

Be aware, if your attorney is not talking to you about settlements, they may be thinking only about trial, which will be far more expensive and complicated for you. You need an attorney who is thinking primarily about your family dynamics and your children’s well-being, not about billing. Keep in mind that while some cases have to go to trial, most can and are settled without one.

Still Have Questions? Ready To Get Started?

For more information on co-parenting with a difficult ex in Los Angeles, an initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling (310) 351-4745 today.