Your ex can’t interfere in your relationship with your children

One of the hardest parts about divorce isn’t the impact on your marital relationship but rather the changes in your relationship with your children. Instead of getting to see them every day, you know have to split that time with your ex.

The worse things get between the two of you, the more likely your marital discord is to boil over and start affecting your relationship with the children. Some parents put their children right in the middle of a messy divorce and even use them as weapons against their ex-spouses.

Your children shouldn’t be pawns in a vicious game. Your relationship with them is important for their healthy development. As a parent divorcing in New Mexico, knowing your rights can help you protect your parental relationship against this kind of interference.

New Mexico family courts and shared custody

In a litigated divorce, there is a presumption that shared parenting will be in the best interests of the children. The judge presiding over your divorce will want to uphold both of your relationships with the children.

Although they may not give a 50-50 split of custody depending on circumstances, they will do their best to keep both parents involved. Shared custody or even visitation rights mean you get to see your children regularly. Your ex should not prevent you from getting your reasonable parenting time. They also shouldn’t directly interfere in your relationship with the children.

Watch for signs of parental alienation

Your ex denying parenting time isn’t just annoying. It could do real damage to your relationship with the children. Parental alienation is a serious concern in contentious divorces. One parent will actively seek to destroy the relationship the other has with the children.

They do this through a combination of denied parenting time and verbal manipulation. One parent might make exaggerated or untrue claims about the other. They might expose all of their anger and rage at their ex to the children.

Psychological manipulation and paper-thin excuses for why you can’t have your custody time are both possible warning signs of parental alienation. Detecting signs of parental alienation can be the first step toward asking for the courts to enforce your custody order or even to modify it to give you more parenting time.