• 26
  • January
    2012

Custody agreements for children are never easy to work out. Factor in the growing complexity of the details now associated with drafting them, and it makes the task even more difficult.

In the past, the focus of custody agreements involved which parent the children would spend their time. But a growing trend now in custody agreements is the issue of religion.

Religion is a huge part of many families' lives. Parents wish for their children to continue to practice or partake in religious practices, divorce or no divorce. But when dealing with the issue of religion it is not enough to simply state which domination children should be raised - the level of complexity in the agreements has grown tremendously. Some agreements even detail as to who should pay for a bar mitzvah or where the children should attend Sunday school.

Religion can be a particularly touchy subject in custody agreements when one parent's faith differs from the other. Faith can play a larger role once the parents are legally divorced, especially around the holidays. When a meshing of the different religions existed, the custody agreement will now separately expose children to the differing religions.

And religion is not the only issue that is being hashed out in the minutest details in custody agreements. The growing complexities of these agreements include pages of details on education plans, dating rules and disciplinary actions.

Is a complex and detailed agreement best for the parents and their children? The opinions differ. Some say that these details, especially religion, can be confusing for the children. On the other hand, some divorce professionals say that the details can be very helpful for families of divorce. Going into a lot of detail make seem uncomfortable, but it can ease some of the tension and challenges of raising children after divorce. Also, by making an agreement more detailed, it can make it easier to resolve disputes.

Source: Washington Post, "Divorce's details: Custody agreements are getting more complex," 12/26/2011.