Divorce Impacts Parents With Special Needs Child

Getting divorced can understandably be a tough ordeal for any family in New York. Still, it poses unique challenges for a family that has a special needs child. Here is a glimpse at the options that these types of families have when facing divorce.

A special needs child requires an additional level of parental support than a child without special needs does. This is because this child may struggle with issues such as autism, addiction, attention deficit disorder, Down syndrome or learning disabilities. He or she could also face physical problems — for example, diabetes and hearing loss.

When the parents of such a child go through divorce, the parents may choose to negotiate and work toward an agreement regarding how to approach their child’s long-term care, diagnosis and treatment. This is the ideal situation, as it leads to less hostility. This, in turn, results in cost savings and less stress for the entire family during the divorce proceeding.

In many situations, however, the parents may not be able to agree on how their child should be cared for down the road. In this situation, traditional divorce litigation is inevitable. They must rely on a judge to decide for them how their child’s care and diagnosis will be handled in the future. Of course, what the judge decides may not necessarily be in alignment with one of the parent’s wishes. Nonetheless, an attorney can assist a parent who has a special needs child and is going through divorce to achieve the most personally favorable outcome possible during negotiation or litigation in New York.