A marriage therapist writing in the New York Times recently argued in favor of allowing children a greater say in modifying child custody agreements. The NYT columnist suggests that all child parenting plans be subjected to a review after every 2 years. The review should include a recorded conversation with a child that is undertaken without any pressure.
According to the arguments published in the NYT, the needs of children change as they grow. No Seattle family attorney would argue with that fact. The fact is that a child custody arrangement that is finalized when a child is a toddler, may not reflect the needs of the child as he grows into an adolescent and enters his teens. However, most child custody arrangements that are designed during childhood stay in place till the child reaches adulthood.
Modifying a child custody plan in Seattle is not an easy option. Even when a child feels the need to change the arrangement to spend more time with the noncustodial parent, or if he feels the need to change his residential arrangements to make it more convenient for himself, he may not feel like disrupting the rhythm of his life by asking for a modification.
Moreover, children know that any request to modify the child custody plan is likely to cause emotional stress to the parent that he’s living with currently. Not surprisingly, many children suffer in silence, suppressing their own needs in order to adjust to the situation. There’s also the fact that children have little say in modifications of child custody arrangements.
A child-support modification doesn’t always have to be a negative experience. With the help of a child custody modification lawyer, you can make changes to your parenting plan that reflect the absolute best interests of the child, and not only in name.
