What Is Bird Nesting After Divorce? Is It Good or Bad for Your Children?

Figuring out where to live after your divorce is no easy matter, especially if children are involved. As divorce lawyers, every day we receive questions about how to make this difficult decision—whether or not to keep the family home—and what’s best for a couple’s children.

With the new sitcom “Splitting Up Together” airing on TV, the “bird nesting” trend—whereby parents allow their children to stay in the same home while they take turns living in it after divorcing—is gathering more attention and traction. Below, we discuss some of the pros and cons of the arrangement option.

The Pros of One Location for a Child

Those that have embraced the bird nesting system have remarked that they prefer it because it places the “burden” of the divorce on the parents versus the children, and avoids them having to be transported between two different residences. This can be especially helpful to younger children and/or those with special needs. It also allows a couple to avoid having to sell the family home during a financial crisis, and instead try and wait for the value of their home to increase.

But Keep In Mind…

However, some experts have suggested that, in order for bird nesting to work, it needs to come with a deadline date, and be relatively short-lived. It also often only works for families who can either afford to maintain a total of three residences, or have worked out terms allowing them to still maintain a total of two residences and just keep the parents swapping between these residences. It must also be made crystal clear to the children that you are not getting back together as a couple.

Indeed, bird nesting can come with its “downsides:” For example, there are some who feel like important tasks (such as housework) are not being shared equally. It also has to work well with each individual parent’s schedule in order to be successful, and it is crucial that a plan for how expenses will be shared is worked out in advance. Some of these topics have brought about frustration by one side or the other, where some have remarked that, instead of allowing for a clean break, it simply prolonged “more of the same.”

Contact a Florida Divorce Attorney for Assistance

Decisions like these are so important that it makes sense to chat about them with someone who has worked with a number of families going through divorce, and has experience with the different types of living arrangements that result. If you live in Florida, contact one of the experienced divorce attorneys at the Arwani Law Firm today to find out how we can help you with this difficult decision.

Resource:

cnbc.com/2018/04/16/this-hot-hollywood-divorce-trend-may-not-be-for-you.html