Some Parents Dealing With Child Custody Turn To Birdnesting

Ending a marital union in Texas can be difficult in the best of situations. This is particularly true if those who are going through divorce have minor children, meaning they have to figure out how to deal with child custody. For some parents, they have found a solution in a process called birdnesting, which has both advantages and disadvantages.

Birdnesting is an arrangement where two divorcing parents decide to keep the marital home and then rotate living there with their children. The parent who is not living with the children at any given time can live in his or her own separate house. In fact, the parents could even share their second home so that only two homes are needed to make this arrangement possible.

Birdnesting offers the benefit of not drastically disrupting children’s lives following the divorce. They can stay in the home they are used to living in rather than having to move to a totally different home in a potentially unfamiliar area — all while trying to deal with the emotional aspects of the divorce, too. The disadvantage of birdnesting is that it might not be practical longer than three months. Over time, the children may become confused and anxious about the unconventional arrangement.

Parents may benefit from trying birdnesting for a few months and then allowing the children to reside with one parent permanently while the other parent receives visitation rights. An attorney in Texas can help a divorcing spouse to pursue primary physical custody of the children if this is what he or she desires; conversely, an attorney can also assist a parent in pursuing liberal visitation rights if he or she will be the noncustodial parent. The attorney’s ultimate goal is to make sure that the client’s rights and best interests are protected while most importantly considering the children’s best interests when it comes to child custody.