Shared Parenting Information Group (SPIG) UK

- promoting responsible shared parenting after separation and divorce -

Child custody - building parenting arrangements that work (book review)

Mimi E Lyster (1996)

Nolo Press; 2nd edition 1996; Quarto 210 pps; $ 24.95

(available from: www.divorcehelp.com and www.nolo.com)

This is an excellent book which will help parents overcome a range of obstacles and put together workable parenting plans which can be as vague or as detailed as they wish.

The book may look a little daunting at first, but it is well worth reading and should help you build a workable parenting plan which will enable you to put parenting disputes behind you and look to the future with confidence.

The author is a professional family mediator and she discusses how to share parenting responsibilities during and after separation and divorce. She guides you through 42 common issues to help you to evaluate your children's needs and the book provides a wide range of real world options to be considered for each of them.

The book contains a number of worksheets to help you formulate your parenting arrangements and concludes with a comprehensive 20 page 'fill in the blanks' parenting plan

The author recognises the overwhelming feelings of being alone after family breakup, and the anger and hurt experienced at this time, but stresses the advantages of dealing with these and resolving children's issues out of court.

This book will help you:
Highly commended.

David Cannon


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