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After a divorce or separation there will be many adjustments for you, your former partner and your children. Of these adjustments, parenting time exchanges is probably one of the most important, yet overlooked activities that parents and children must adapt to. Children learn by watching and listening to their parents, so how parents behave and interact with each other can have a lasting impact on the children.

Children all react to news of a divorce differently. Helping them to understand their feelings and process the emotions they experience can be tricky. It is often hard enough for the adults to deal with, for children it can seem like their world is falling apart. There are a few great resources that do a good job of introducing the topic of divorce and help your child to better understand what it all means at an age appropriate level. There are a lot options that exist, but here are some that we hear regularly recommended:

Attorney's fees can be very expensive, but there are things that you can do to help keep your overall divorce more affordable. Some common sense and not so common sense things can have a dramatic impact on the amount of billable hours it takes to get your case resolved. Depending on where you live attorney's fees can range from $100 — $1,500 an hour, but the average rate is somewhere in the neighborhood of $250 — $350 an hour. That being said, the biggest contributor to an expensive divorce is extra spent by your professionals doing what you could have done yourself.

In the USA the divorce rate is between 50-60% and in other countries like the UK it is reported to be even higher.  The question then becomes why is the rate so high?  Are people getting married knowing that divorce is always there as an option?  Does forever have a different meaning in today's society?  Not to long ago it was expected that you would get a career and stick with it throughout your life, now the average career position lasts about seven years, has the same thing happened to marriage.

Most child custody and visitation issues are the result of a divorce, however there are more and more unwed parents who dealing with similar issues.  In the case of the unmarried parent, the rules can be very different from state to state.  In addition, issues can be compounded by the role of grandparents who seek to be awarded custody or at least visitation with the child.

When you are trying to regain financial health as a single parent, there are some traps that could easily sabotage your efforts. Here are five traps to avoid if you want to maintain a healthy financial status: