Suppose you and your spouse are thinking about getting a divorce in South Carolina and are worried about how it will affect your children. In that case, an arrangement called nesting may be a temporary solution to help with the transition. Instead of having the children go back and forth between the homes of each parent, the children stay in the family home with the on-duty parent staying with them.
Why consider nesting?
Nesting, as a child custody alternative, works for some but not all couples. By allowing your children to stay in your family home while you and your spouse work out divorce issues, they’ll have more time to adapt to the major changes in their lives that divorce brings. Nesting is essentially a way to reduce conflict and put the needs of your children first.
In addition to providing stability, nesting is also a good alternative for couples who can’t afford to divorce immediately yet cannot continue to live together for various reasons. No two nesting arrangements are the same, either. Some couples share an alternative apartment where the off-duty parent lives, while others live with parents or friends when they are not living in the family home with their children.
Determining whether nesting is for you
The most important factor when considering nesting is whether you can put aside your emotions while working out your divorce agreement with your spouse. Developing a comprehensive parenting plan at the beginning of your separation will go a long way toward making this arrangement work.
Separating couples should also consider how much contact they can tolerate with one another, as minimizing conflict is nesting’s primary goal. You should commit to good communication, mutual respect and trust. These are crucial elements when attempting to develop a workable nesting arrangement.