Your family is like a living thing. It must undergo growth, development, and evolve over time as its structure continues to change. Often, positive changes to the family unit occur as a result of marriage, new family members joining it, and childbirth. Negative changes are associated with the loss of a loved one, divorce, and other negative issues.
No matter the cause of a family breakdown, it can be very challenging to cope with these issues. Different people deal with legal separation and divorce differently, and there’s no right or wrong way to deal with the issue. Consult with a reliable Sugar Land divorce attorney to learn how divorce might affect your family and the various steps you can take to lessen this burden on your loved ones.
What’s divorce?
This is the process of ending a marriage. It might sound easy for you and your spouse. However, think about the other relationships that were tied to that marriage relationship. Some of these peripheral relationships include core relationships like children, the extended family, and more. Therefore, the dissolution of marriage through a divorce will not address the impact of the entire process on the relationships that are closely tied to that marriage.
Impact on children
Kids are always the most affected by divorce or separation. According to experts, the breakup of the parental relationship comes with many emotional, financial, and physical changes. The children have to cope with the confusion and frustration of not understanding the literal separation of the parents and why everything is changing.
This is one of the main reason children protest against divorce or separation in unexpected ways. For instance, withdrawal from relatives or friends, poor academic performance, and other behavioral tendencies that could raise concerns. A child’s first reaction to separation or divorce is fear, confusion, and denial. These feelings later graduate to anger, depression, and sometimes panic attacks.
Extended family
Divorce can affect your extended family in different ways. It is a situation that forces the family members of each spouse to take sides. This can be very challenging, confusing, and affect your children badly.
Studies show that children are very good at sensing whenever things aren’t working. They are also deft when it comes to picking up on hostility, especially if it is being directed to one of the parents. After divorce, the children are forced to balance loyalties. Sometimes, they might feel disloyal, especially if they still love their father when their mother is visibly unhappy, and vice versa.
Sometimes, when other family members like grandparents are conflicted over which side they should take, your children might pick up such issues. In a situation where the extended family express prejudice towards one of the parents, this can reinforce those negative feeling in kids. In the long-run, the relationship between the children and that parent could be completely ruined.
Wrap up
Divorce isn’t a light issue for anyone. It affects spouses, their children, the extended family, and sometimes, the society. Before you choose to divorce, think about how this process is likely to affect your loved ones.