Nesting may help to reduce conflict during divorce

Choosing to break up with a spouse is never an easy decision — or an easy process. However, as hard as it may be for the two spouses to navigate, it can be equally as difficult for the children to endure. This is why some parents who are going through divorce in Massachusetts and elsewhere have decided to try out a living arrangement known as nesting, which offers both pros and cons.

Nesting is where two parents maintain their family home and trade off living there with their children. If it is not a parent’s turn to live at the house, he or she can live at another residence that he or she has bought or is renting. In some cases, both parents can share this other residence to save on costs.

Nesting has become a popular idea because it causes less disruption to the children’s lives than uprooting the children and planting them in a completely new home. The disadvantage of nesting, though, is that it may be hard for the parents to pull off long term. Likewise, the children might become anxious about and confused by the unorthodox living arrangement.

Parents who are going through divorce could decide to do nesting for a few months to make the children’s transition to life after their parents’ divorce easier. Then, they could switch to having one parent live with the children permanently while the other one visits with the children. The parents can iron out the details of these arrangements at the negation table or during mediation and then spell them out in a mutually satisfactory parenting agreement. An attorney can provide a divorcing parent with the guidance that he or she needs during the process of creating such an agreement in Massachusetts, ensuring that his or her rights are upheld every step of the way.