The current pandemic situation has hit us all pretty hard, with a lot of people taking a blow to their income and job status. If you are a financially struggling parent due to COVID-19 and you have trouble paying your mandatory child support or alimony payments to your ex-spouse, what do you do?

First, don’t panic. There are options to get this resolved.

News of the coronavirus is pervasive, and it is difficult to escape feelings of worry. Official reactions have ranged from downplaying the risk to outright panic, and financial markets are in turmoil. While we don’t want to speculate on the dangers of the coronavirus COVID-19, the impact of the world’s reaction is already very real.

This raises the question among divorced parents: how does the coronavirus impact child-custody arrangements?

No one wants to consider the debt consequences of divorce, yet at the same time, there are so many misconceptions about how it works. Here's what you need to know.

It’s that time of year when visitation schedules can get particularly tricky. Scheduling visitation with kids between their divorced parents can already be emotional—so how do you agree on a schedule when both parents want the child for Christmas or Thanksgiving?

Well, no one can promise that it is easy. But you’re not alone—there are multiple scheduling options for all kinds of ex-couples…even the ones that are far from amicable.

For some non-working ex-spouses about to receive alimony, the promise of easy street may seem within grasp. After all, once the alimony and/or child support payments are settled, that can replace one's ordinary income, right? One might never have to work again!

Not so fast, says the court.

If you refuse to work while actually being able, your alimony and/or child support payments could be impacted, and the court could intervene.

When it comes to custody arrangements, parents often ask: does the child have a say at all in the custody decisions and schedule?

The answer is sometimes yes, but mostly no. Here are a few answers to common questions from parents regarding the role of a child’s preference. The answers are not always easy, but parents should know all the facts before going into the situation.

Though retirement may be the last thing you are thinking of when getting a divorce, it’s good to know that there may be some benefits that you accrued during your marriage.

Even if retirement is far off, the following benefits are worth investigating now for when the time comes.

Joint custody

Divorce is tough on everyone involved, but if there are kids in the picture, it makes it all the more complicated.

Of all the sticking points in a divorce settlement, the parties’ custody arrangement for their kids can be the most contentious. Luckily, courts recognize how complicated it can be for parents leading two different and separate lives to also co-parent. There are many established options for how to divide custody time between parents.