To separate or to divorce? That is the question

The end of marriage is very rarely easy. You’ve tried to work things out over a period of time, but it hasn’t worked. In some cases tempers get frayed, emotions run high and it all kicks off. Accusations and counter accusations fly. There is no agreement on anything. You just want a divorce to get out of the situation and be able to move on.

In other cases things are more amicable but the couple are content that the relationship is over and both want to move on. Divorce might seem the natural option, with a focus of getting things sorted as quickly as possible.

However, there is another section of people for whom immediate divorce is not the right way. They may have accepted that the marriage cannot be salvaged and divorce is the (likely) end game, but not just now thanks. Too much going on. Let’s do this calmly and slowly. We’ll agree to separate but not to divorce. There could be religious reasons behind this, a fear of the sudden impact on the children, or a couple are just too emotionally drained already to pick over every detail of the marriage to try to reach a divorce settlement.

Can people in this position do anything though to make their position legally more secure? After all, it would not be beyond the realms of possibility for one or both of the parties to move on with their life, perhaps starting a new relationship with all the potential emotional and often financial implications. Whilst initially relations may be sound when the party that’s in a new relationship starts taking expensive holidays, buys a new car or generally seems to be ‘splashing out’ this can cause resentment. This is often when an amicable separation can lead to a nasty divorce.

So for any couple deciding to separate the starting point perhaps is an adult conversation about what is best for all of you. Proceed with a divorce to finalise everything once and for all or have some sort of interim separation agreement setting out who will start divorce proceedings when the time is right, a clear steer on division of assets and financial obligations, and how the children will be financially supported. Now, this may sound on the face of it like what you will do in a divorce anyway, but it can be much easier for people to focus on what will happen in the future rather than the here and now. And it means that, further down the road, there is less likely to be significant dispute. It also means certain situations (like new relationships) to be tackled allowing both parties to think through the implications at a time when emotions are not quite so raw.  Indeed, the conversations over these issues can often be much easier and more relaxed if you are not in the vanguard of divorce.

However, for some people the decision to divorce is an easy one and they want it sorted. If there is a measure of agreement on issues like finances and children, this can lead to quite a swift conclusion to the divorce – though the myth of a quickie divorce remains just that, a myth. You will get through the divorce process as quickly as possible if you do not contest claims and stay out of court, but it will still take around six months.

Only you can decide the best route for you, but there is lots of advice out there. This should logically start with a discussion with your estranged spouse, and may extent to friends and family, ideally with advice from an experienced family law solicitor, whichever route you follow.

Article written for OnlyDads by Andrew Woolley of Woolley & Co, divorce and family law solicitors. For further information about divorce and separation visit the Woolley & Co, Solicitors website.

©Woolley & Co, Solicitors 2013

 

Electronics for Kids

Manufacturers are coming out with more kid-friendly electronics, including tablets and laptops.  These devices are different than the adult-oriented electronics in that they are designed specifically for a child to use. And the fact is that children are becoming more technologically savvy each year.

But how do these devices compare to giving your child one of your old hand-me-downs? What about buying a new device designed for adults for your children? And are they worth the price?

Durability

Most kid-friendly devices are more durable than their adult counterparts. The casings are made of heavy, shock-resistant plastic, which means they are designed to stand up to being dropped and banged around. Kid-friendly devices are also moisture-resistant, so they are designed to stand up to spills. In contrast, adult devices were designed with the assumption that their target users aren’t likely to toss them around willy-nilly, or spill an entire glass of grape juice on them.

Accessibility

Kid-friendly devices tend to have handles and rounded corners and big, easy-to-manipulate buttons. This makes it easier for young children to handle. Adult devices tend to have sharp edges, have sleek casings, and recessed buttons. Both are equally affordable, provided the consumer does his/her research and utilizes online discounts like Best Buy Coupons and other electronics promotions.

Parental Controls

Kid-specific devices that access the net have built-in parental controls. But a lot of devices don’t access the net so parental controls aren’t a big issue. Child devices, like the VTech Inno Tab 2 Learning App Tablet are designed to run different educational programs without accessing the web. These devices might also include cameras and other tablet-like functions, without the internet access.

Adult devices are designed for internet productivity and, as such, need parental controls. In most cases, it’s a simple matter of going into the parental controls screen and setting a password for access.

Versatility

Most kid-specific devices run a limited range of software. This serves to keep the costs down, and it protects your child from predatory behavior on the internet. But, as your child gets older, he will want more versatility. Devices designed for adults can run several child-friendly and educational programs. Additionally, manufacturers like Amazon have kid-friendly content, like FreeTime, that you can access on their tablets products.

Conclusion

Kid-specific electronics could be good for small children who only need limited functionality. These devices will stand up well to getting tossed around, and even stepped on, and provide your child with hours of entertainment. But remember, children learn fast, so that locked-down, kid-friendly device might only last a year before she get’s bored and is ready for something different.

For older children, an adult device might be a better fit because it is more versatile. He can download games from content providers, and you can set parental controls that protect him from the dangers on the net. Also, as you child gets older, he can use the device for school work.

Although electronic devices can be expensive, you can find the deals you need to make technology affordable. If you’re looking for deals during the holiday season, keep your eyes peeled for Black Friday deals. In fact, you can even do a search for “Black Friday ad leaks 2013” to get a head start on deal shopping well ahead of the fall season.

What Is The London Legal Walk?

We asked our very good friend Julia to write a few words about the London Legal Walk. I am grateful to Julia for writing what follows – and sit here totally dismayed and alarmed that legal aid is being cut in this way. We wish Julia and her team all the very best in her fundraising

Julia writes…

…Here’s something that may strike a chord with some of our readers and followers who are going through divorce and separation and dealing with the various problems that arise.

As many will know to their cost, the recent cuts in legal aid mean that getting free advice from lawyers and CABs is going to be very difficult and in some places impossible. Legal aid will simply be unavailable for help with many family law cases. This means that those advice centres and services which remain will rely more heavily on charitable tuning and donation as they struggle to meet the demand for advice on divorce about children issues, debt, housing etc.

On 20th May, lawyers, judges and others concerned about these issues will raise funds for the London Legal Support Trust by taking part in the 10K London Legal Walk. Last year 6,000 walkers raised over £500,000 for legal advice centres. This year the aim is to raise even more at a time when the need has never been greater.

I will be walking with Team Justice Gap. So if anyone would like to support this cause by making a donation, however small (or large) then the link is here. All support will be gratefully received and will make a massive difference to providing access to advice and to justice for many families.

And for background information about the charity behind the walk click on this link.

Thank you for reading, and if you want to know more, please do get in touch with Julia via Twitter

 

Dads Staying Over in Maternity Wards

What follows is my response to an article on the Netmums website that was posted this morning. It deals with the question (raised by Labour MP, Jon Cruddas) of men staying overnight in maternity wards.

I propose a compromise – let hospitals provide a choice: We could have female only wards and another where dads can stay overnight. After all, mixed wards are not unknown in the UK.

Priya was born 16 years ago now. During the pregnancy I attended every ante-natal class open to me. I took time off work when we had visits from the midwife and I was there continually during what proved to be a long and traumatic labour. When Priya was finally handed to me, like every other man who can talk honestly about the subject, I can say that my world view changed in an instant. The immediate and forceful love that I felt for this new born infant was overwhelming. Love lunged at me.

Driving home on my own three hours later was just, wrong. My wife was still struggling after the labour and could have done with someone at her side. And I felt strongly that I also wanted to be with and hold my daughter.

I would have welcomed the opportunity to stay the night. I would not have slept (and snored!). I would have been a husband and a father doing his duty willingly at the most important moment of my life.

I would just add that when Anya was born three years later, things were different. Staying overnight would not have been necessary. I had a home to run, Priya to look after, and the labour was that much easier.

Cruddas is right to raise this subject. Giving parents options seems a very sensible way forward and we should be grateful to him for speaking out. Allowing Dads to take a full and active part in the whole of their children’s life is central to the OnlyDads ethos.

This is just one (important) example of an area of life where things could be done better.

Thanks for reading. Bob.

And if you get a chance, do check out the pioneering work of Dean and Daddy Natal.

Vacancy for a Young Single Parent

OnlyMums & OnlyDads are a registered Community Interest Company that supports single parents and those going through divorce and separation.  Although we have a great deal of experience helping parents through difficult times, we are primarily a “signposting” service to agencies and others who can help. We have an established Panel of Experts that deals with the majority of our email enquiries on a full range of housing, legal and finance related questions.

We are not involved in any political campaigning, neither are we a research organisation. We receive no public or government financial support. We fund our not for profit organisation through advertising opportunities on our websites.

You can read more about our work here

Challenging background

Every month we find more and more people are using our websites or contacting us directly for support.  Increasing financial pressure on existing charities like CAB and Shelter will undoubtedly lead to an increasing workload for on-line and responsive organisations like ours.  We know that the existing economic climate is difficult for the majority of single parents – with little light on the horizon. These are challenging times.

What skills are we looking for?

We are seeking to appoint a young single parent to work with our Advisory Board to:

• bring fresh thinking to how we best support young single mums and dads;
• bring suggestions for improving our websites; and
• secure appropriate and relevant link exchanges with other key organisations and blogs/twitter contacts.

 The commitment

• Our Advisory Board meets in Central London twice a year and you will need to attend.
• Occasional telephone support.
• Ad hoc email exchanges may be sought between meetings as required.
• This is a voluntary position but reasonable expenses will be paid.

If this position is of interest to you, please send an email to info@onlymums.org so that we can then arrange a time to talk further.

Many thanks.

 

Voluntary Position (Finance) on our Advisory Board.

OnlyMums & OnlyDads are a registered Community Interest Company that supports single parents and those going through divorce and separation.  Although we have a great deal of experience helping parents through difficult times, we are primarily a “signposting” service to agencies and others who can help. We have an established Panel of Experts that deals with the majority of our email enquiries on a full range of housing, legal and finance related questions.

We are not involved in any political campaigning, neither are we a research organisation. We receive no public or government financial support. We do believe children benefit if Mums and Dads are able to obtain support and advice (during and after) divorce and separation. We fund our not-for-profit organisation through advertising opportunities on our websites.

You can read more about our work here

Challenging background

Every month we find more and more people are using our websites or contacting us directly for support.  Increasing financial pressure on existing charities like CAB and Shelter will undoubtedly lead to an increasing workload for on-line and responsive organisations like ours.  We have a number of projects and other initiatives that could better support our client group, but that aren’t being done due to lack of financial resource.

What skills are we looking for?

We are seeking to appoint a person with experience in raising sponsorship, advertising and other revenue, as well as to assist us with financial planning and drawing up of regular business plans.  In particular:

• exploring commercial partnerships;
• exploring advertising opportunities on our website;
• securing corporate sponsors;
• bringing fresh thinking to how we can maximise our income; and
• writing yearly business plans with revisions as necessary.

 The commitment

• Our Advisory Board will meet in Central London twice a year and you will need to attend.
• Occasional telephone support betwwen meetings.
• Ad hoc email exchanges may be sought between meetings as required.
• This is a voluntary position but reasonable expenses will be paid.

If you feel you would be interested in joining our Advisory Board we require a brief email sent to info@onlydads.org expressing interest so we can then arrange a suitable time for a further conversation and meeting.

Many thanks

Bob and Rebecca

Pop Psychology For The Panicking Lone-Parent

Top ten easy survival tips by Bob Greig, founder of OnlyDads.

Before men get to the stage where they sit down in front of  their PCs and Google “support for single dads” – and find OnlyDads – they tend to have been through the wars. The emails and ‘phone calls we get prove the point.  And anyway, I know it.  I too typed something like that into my browser seven years ago. Back then all I found was a forum for misogynists and reams of confusing legalspeak.

I’d only got round to searching for external support when I realised that not much was going right in my life. I was facing redundancy, a complicated divorce, a house move, and I had the responsibility of having two girls at home who needed me to be especially strong at that time. Superman, I was not, and yet I delayed crying for help.

Aficionados of Maslow and his hierarchy of needs will understand what I was going through.  I was surviving, fire fighting, postponing – not thinking straight.

This tends to be situation of the most of the men we now deal with via telephone and emails. The building blocks of their personal “hierarchy” are crumbling. For these men, the safety net of a family home and the nurturing capacity of love and companionship and sex is often missing. For a spell, life becomes a precarious state and everything seems to be out of joint, unfocused, basically, a mess.

Many single dads reading this will know narcotics, or booze, or watching telly, or staring glaze-eyed at  porn sites…will offer only temporary relief. None of these pursuits will rebuild your damaged self-esteem. In fact most such activities can quickly turn a precarious existence into something more fragile and damaged and desperate.

Some will find (many for the first time in their lives) that mental health becomes an issue. Anxiety disorders and/or depression may emerge. These can be devastating. They are always bewildering.  Social networks fragment. Friends dissipate. Self-esteem will be quietly replaced with a vague, or sometimes not so vague, self-loathing.

Isolation is the upshot of such a breakdown. Isolation can and does kill people.

So, what follows is written for isolated, doom-laden dads who are finding it difficult to see a way forward.  I hope it offers a sticking-plaster to get through the first few days of the new (dis)order. It’s not a cure, by any means, and it won’t suit everyone – but the easy commandments below have all worked for me in the past.

 

1. Deal with it – There is a pile of correspondence in your home or car. In that pile there will be at least one letter, maybe several, that you know is there and will be troubling your subconscious more than the others. At times of chaos, correspondence from the Council, Inland Revenue, Solicitors… can accumulate rapidly! Here’s what to do. Open the one that worries you most and write a reply. Tell them you are having a terrible time and that you are doing everything you can do to respond properly. If you are under the care of your GP – mention that too. (and if you are not, go and book an appointment!). And then send the letter! It’s a start…!
2. Get a haircut – It’s the quickest, easiest, cheapest transformation available. You’ll feel younger, fresher, lighter. People will say positive things about you -  to you. The mirror will be kinder to you. If you’re bald, go and pay for a shave and indulge in the experience.
3. Do some housework – Take everything out of your bathroom/toilet and get back in there with a bottle of bleach and leave it spotless. There is probably something primeval about this particular tip, in fact I’m sure there is. It’s worth doing. Bathrooms are the easiest room in the house to clean too. This way you’ll really feel own your home. Next day you can do the kitchen, then the living room, garden…
4. Look good Buy a new shirt. This may sound flippant, or trivial. It’s not. I even suggest buying something that is not your usual style. It will help you feel different, and “feeling different” has to be a good thing.
5. Friendship matters – Get in touch with a friend (one friend) and thank them for the help or advice they have given in the past. My guess is you will feel you owe a few people a “thank you”. Friends won’t expect or need it, but it will make you feel better, and that’s the point. Start with one though. You will know who.
6. Mornings and nights – Ten minutes before you head for bed do one or two things that will set the next day up for a positive beginning. I have got into the habit of washing out and preparing my coffee pot – it’s these simple things that take minimal effort but offer pay back the next day. Get a pile of laundry ready for the wash, make sandwiches for lunch, are other obvious suggestions.
7. Hide away for a bit - Not being too hard on yourself is easier said than done. But do try and realise that you are not alone in struggling through the dark days. “Give yourself a break” has a variety of meanings – they all have merit. My guess is there won’t be one man reading this who hasn’t taken himself out of circulation for a while simply to hide away. Don’t beat yourself up if you find yourself doing just that. You probably need to as part of the healing process.
8. Treats – Treat yourself to something. You will have at least one or two things on some mental list tucked away at the back of your mind.  I’m thinking more of purchasing London Calling by The Clash on 12 inch vinyl rather than a Harley Davidson though. Turning a mid-life downer into the full-blown crisis is not recommended!
9. A good walk – Go for what is known as “a serious walk”.  Philosopher Soren Kiekergaard writes: “Above all, do not lose your desire to walk. Every day I walk myself into a state of well-being and walk away from every illness. I have walked myself into my best thoughts, and I know of no thought so burdensome that one cannot walk away from it.”
10.  Meaning of life – Take this period in your life as an opportunity to re-evaluate; it offers a time to be honest with yourself, which is not to be ignored. You will have spent years compromising yourself in a relationship that had probably been failing for years. Asking “what do I want?” is a question so few of us ever ask. Now is the opportunity to do just that. The next “phase” of your life lies ahead. Daydream. See what emerges…

Please do let us if you have found other helpful remedies. They will make a useful addition to this particular post.

You may also be interested in reading Natasha’s post called The Mailbox Monster which deals with the stresses of marital law and family breakdown.

Signposting to all the main support services can be found on both www.onlydads.org and www.onlymums.org. Thank you for reading. Bob.