After your divorce, you may be happy to think that you do not have to have any relationship with your ex anymore. That’s the whole point of splitting up. You want nothing to do with each other.
However, do not be so quick to write this off. In some senses, if you have kids, you and your ex may actually need to have a better post-divorce relationship than you did when you were married.
The reasoning is that life is a bit unpredictable. If you share custody, you both have to care for those kids. While your custody schedule helps to divide the duties, you still need to work together to tackle what life throws at you.
For instance, perhaps your boss tells you that you need to go on a business trip over the weekend. The problem is that you are supposed to watch the kids over the weekend.
If you and your ex have a poor relationship or none at all, is he or she going to work with you? Can you exchange weekends? Can you agree to be flexible?
Probably not. If you have a good relationship with mutual respect, where you try to help each other out and put the kids first, then your ex will be more open to working out a temporary exchange of duties to accommodate your plans.
Remember, the goal is always to put the kids first. That may mean working with your ex in ways you didn’t anticipate. Make sure that you understand your custody agreement and all of your parental rights.
