Introduction

As parents of children with disabilities or special needs know all too well, raising children with unique healthcare and educational requirements presents its own set of challenges and joys. On a practical level, there are a host of expenses that accompany raising children with such needs, from distinctive vehicles to homes outfitted with the proper medical equipment to people trained to administer those treatments. In addition to major financial considerations, raising special needs children also frequently involves incredible time commitments by the devoted parent(s) and other family members.

Special needs mean special rules

For special needs families undergoing divorce, an already complex situation may come to feel insurmountable or hopeless. How do special needs children affect typical separation and divorce issues like custody and parenting time, alimony and child support payments, and division of property?

Special needs children complicate custody and parenting time rights.  Children may never be capable of self-feeding, clothing, housing, and mobility, well past the age of majority.  Parents who sacrifice their own careers to care for special needs children may require long term alimony, which otherwise might not be needed. With regard to child support, New Jersey law explicitly recognizes that the State’s general Child Support Guidelines do not factor in the expenses involved in raising special needs or disabled children.

Child support rules state that the “predictable and recurring expenses … for disabled children … should be shared by the parents in proportion to their relative incomes.” Such expenses are not limited to medical care or therapy, and may include equipment, therapy, aides, special education, and unique dietary needs.

Determining what is in the child’s best interest

Custody and parenting time decisions in New Jersey are based primarily upon the “child’s best interests”, so the unique requirements of a special needs or disabled child are key to determining how much time the children will spend with each parent, and where. Among the factors that should be considered are:

• The effect of shuttling a child or children between households;
• The availability and/or proximity of the requisite equipment, care, and education; and
• Each parent’s varying capacities to care for special needs or disabled children.

Multiple children

In families with multiple children, parenting plans need to take into account the ways in which the unique requirements of a special needs child may impact siblings. This could mean creating separate parenting times for different children, instead of all children spending the same time with each parent.  Involvement of a family therapist who has a background in special needs or disabled children could be not just helpful in this situation, but priceless.

Conclusion

While every family is unique, parents of special needs or disabled children require compassionate counsel and tough advocates who will tailor their legal recommendations with this  family in mind.  Our office works collaboratively with experts in the fields of medicine, psychiatry, psychology, special education, specialized advocacy for parents and children, financial planning, special needs trusts, and estate planning.  We also support alternative dispute resolution in these cases, including negotiations, mediation, collaborative law practice, and arbitration, along with traditional legal advocacy in courts of law.  If you need it, we will help you find it.

If you are in the throes of a separation or divorce, or are simply considering it; and if your loved ones may require the assistance in the areas referenced above; then please contact us today for a low-cost initial consultation.  Let’s start with a conversation to see how we may be able to help you and add value to what you have already been doing.  Call or write to us now.  We will be happy to help your special family — and you.