Under any circumstances, divorce is a daunting, intimating, tiresome and lengthy process. More so it is even more challenging for the kids especially if they have special needs. Therefore, parents are demanded to come up with a solid system that helps their children get over divorce.
Regardless of the situation of a child, if a marriage has to end in a divorce, it will. Several cases claim that a marriage that involves an autistic child or any other child with any other special need, the chances of that marriage ending sooner are higher. This is because, in order to meet the emotional and financial needs of the child, both the parents stress themselves out and result in a divorce as they feel unable to handle the pressure.
Each parent wants to ensure that that their child’s interest is taken care of as well as it possibly can be. Although this often leads to the parents separating and that might not always meet the full needs of the child.
What Does The Law Say About Children With Special Needs?
When it comes to deciding over a solution for a child with a special need, every parent wants the child’s best interest. The things that are including the care for the child are there:
- Physical needs
- Emotional needs
- Financial security and most of all
- Overall stability.
When it comes to the above, there are a few things that have to be decided between. If both the parents are utterly concerned about the child they can battle between the following two types of custodies. These are:
- Sole custody: This means that just one parent is given full responsibility of the child whereas the other parent will only be allowed to meet at scheduled times.
- Joint custody: This is when the siblings are mostly kept together and both the parents are given complete control over the decisions regarding the child.
There are several minor things that become major when dealing with a child who has special needs and is undergoing the terrifying process of his parents getting divorced. Whereas the judge is always concerned to ensure that the growth of the child is not negatively influenced by the divorce in any way or is at least minimized.
What To Consider When Caring For A Child With Special Needs
It is important for the lawyer to play a valid role when helping parents decide what the absolute best is for their child. Hence if you are coming up with a plan for your child, here the factors that you must absolutely consider beforehand:
- The child’s educational decisions
- The child’s medical requirements
- The kid’s therapeutic needs
- The visitation agreements and lastly
- The transfer between the father’s and mother’s home paired with
- All kinds of social opportunities for the child.
These are the things that immediately require concern from the parents when getting divorced. It is important to ensure the child’s educational and financial needs can be met whereas the remaining can be catered to later.
Stevens Bill is the author of this article. He refers to the experts, DJP Solicitors to help children with special needs come up with helpful solutions.