The high of pregnancy and the low of divorce takes a lot of people on an emotional rollercoaster. But it is critical that you don’t allow your emotions to cloud your good judgment. If you are getting divorced while pregnant, you cannot overlook your legal rights. You need to set firm rules for custody and support to ensure your future, your relationship with your child, and your child’s future. This post will go over divorce and the issues it brings up during pregnancy.
Healthcare is critical during pregnancies. Expectant mothers usually meet with their doctor once or even twice a month. The general rule is once a couple of divorces; the other spouse is not required to provide health insurance to their former spouse. But the court can, and frequently does in this situation, order continued medical care until the child is born. But when the ex-spouse is not the father of the child, this can complicate matters.
Once the child is born, the healthcare costs are incorporated into child support. So, medical care for the child does continue.
Alimony is another contentious issue. Spousal support was always intended to be temporary; it should terminate once the spouse should be able to provide for themselves. But, new mothers often want to stay home to care for the child. But the modern trend has been to reduce support because mothers work more and maintain their careers. The courts do still order extended support, but the judge will likely take a dimmer view of the request than in prior years.
Finally, scheduling visitation is critical. You should lay down a visitation plan that gives the non-custodial spouse sufficient time to bond with the baby. You need to lay out the schedule well before the child is born; these issues can get contentious mainly because these early visitation plans usually need to be flexible to accommodate the child’s and parent’s schedule.
If you are engaged in a child custody dispute, you should seek the assistance of an attorney. A lawyer can help ensure that you get a fair custody order that ensures you maintain an ongoing relationship with your children. You don’t want to risk your future parenting time on an ad hoc or poorly planned custody arrangement. A lawyer can anticipate the issues and resolve them before they become a problem.
