3 Ways to Legally Protect Your Child During Divorce

Available for Interviews: Teddy Ann Barry

Teddy Ann Barry, Esq. is a family attorney and writer and has been serving families through divorce and custody and has been practicing family law for over twenty years, and also comes with a wealth of experience in mediation and collaborative law.

What Teddy Ann Barry can say in an interview on
Protecting Your Children During Divorce
:

So often we’re asked when does my child get to talk to the Judge? The Family Court will rarely question your child about what he wants to have happen or where she wants to live.

If parents cannot agree on a parenting plan or strongly disagree with what is in their child’s best interests, here are some ways to legally protect your child:

    1. Involve a Family Therapist. Divorce is stressful and emotional. Parents need to learn how to put their emotions aside when deciding what is best for their kids. By involving a therapist, the kids have a safe place to be heard by the parents and have the opportunity to discuss what they want to see happen moving forward.
    2. Use a Child & Family Investigator. Known by different terms state by state, many states allow for the appointment of a Child & Family Investigator.  This 3rd party, who usually has a psychological or legal background, will interview the parents, see the child with each parent separately, talk to the child, and then make recommendations to the Court as to what parenting plan is in the child’s best interests.
    3. Appoint a Guardian or CLR. A third option, not used as often as it should in my opinion, is the appointment of a Guardian ad Litem or Child Legal Representative for the child. Instead of offering a report or opinion to the court like a CFI,  Child Legal Representatives act as the child’s lawyer in the process, and are able to voice the child’s desires and needs separate from the parents’ counsel. The CLR can offer separate witnesses during hearings, question the parents on their positions during trials, and offer arguments to the court or otherwise negotiate the parenting plan with the parents’ attorneys. This option should be explored more often for teenage children who want nothing to do with the parenting plans their parents attempt to commit them to live by.

 

Interview: Teddy Ann Barry

Teddy Ann Barry, Esq. is the Founder of Teddy Ann Barry, PSC., and has been an attorney for over twenty years. Other areas of law practiced are mediation and collaborative law. Teddy is based in the Cherry Creek office and practices family law exclusively.

Teddy is a former guardian ad litem and Respondent parents’ counsel, representing the best interests of children placed in the custody of the State and the parents accused of abuse and neglect of their children by the State.

As an alumna of Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska for both her undergraduate and Juris Doctorate degrees, Teddy is proud to have been educated at Creighton University which is one of 28 Jesuit Catholic universities throughout the country, that teaches, among many wonderful values, service.  I have been serving others in family law since 2000.

Teddy has been a business owner for over 17 years and continues to build a firm with experienced and well-respected professionals who can offer the highest level of client care, advocacy, skilled negotiation, and litigation if and when absolutely necessary.

 

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