Let’s face it; sometimes it’s hard to communicate with your ex (or soon to be ex) about the kids. Feelings start to arise, and soon you are in another argument making even harder for you to move on with your life, or worse yet, you’ve armed your ex with enough ammunition to hurt your case. If only there was a way to schedule and share important information about the kids without getting into a full blown fight.
Fortunately for you there are online tools out there on the web that make scheduling and sharing information easy! Even better yet, you probably have had these tools all along! I’m talking about your web based email service. Many of these services are free, offer shared calendaring, have several gigabytes of cloud based file storage, and even offer the ability to create and edit documents and spreadsheets. Most modern smartphones not only support these features, but are often built around them, making these tools accessible everywhere.
I personally like using Gmail over other platforms like Outlook, Yahoo Mail, or AOL (a blast from the past). It’s easy to set-up, it’s a necessary part of my Android based smart phone, and it allows me to share and collaborate with my co-workers in real time.
How does all this make your divorce and child custody easier? First, using the shared calendaring feature, you and your ex can both have your parent-time and activities schedule online. This will force you to plan ahead and avoid future conflicts. Second, a shared spreadsheet can help you plan and keep track of your children’s expenses. Additionally, you will both have a record of any expenses should there be a dispute to bring to the court. Third, cloud based storage is great place to upload receipts for expenses, share photographs of children and their activities, keep your children’s records in case of emergencies, and a convenient location to keep your court orders or decree of divorce to pull up if there is a dispute. Finally, communicating via email keeps a record of conversations regarding the children, while phone conversations can lead to tensions which can rise to arguments very quickly.
If you have any tips and tricks on how you use technology in your child custody and/or divorce, feel free to drop a quick comment.
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