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How nesting can serve your family after divorce

You might be feeling uncertain if you want to give up the family home for good. Or you might not be looking forward to telling your kids you’ll be moving away from the neighborhood where they’ve made many friends and memories.

As you go through the divorce process, you’ll have to decide on the future of the home you bought and shared with your soon-to-be ex. Since selling the home, dividing all marital assets and splitting child custody can be a lot to take in all at once, you may want to consider a nesting arrangement.

What is a nesting arrangement?

Nesting allows families to both keep the family home and give children a sense of regularity to their day-to-day routine. This is because, rather than conducting custody exchanges on a regular basis, children stay at the family home while their parents take turns living in it during their parenting time.

Why should we keep the family home?

Keeping the family home can give you a breather as you make decisions about many other aspects of your life that will follow you for years to come. Instead of rushing to the sell the home or having arguments about who should be able to keep it, you can continue to share it in a unique way.

If you are the type of person who craves a new space to start fresh again, nesting can allow a flavor of both new and old. This is because when you aren’t taking care of your children in the familiar space of your family home, you will live in an off-site residence that you can keep all to yourself.

How long should we nest for?

Before finalizing your divorce, you might not come across another home you can see yourself raising your children in. This scenario might make nesting a good way to temporarily live. If it works out long-term, that’s alright. But you’ll probably want to stop sharing real estate with your co-parent or begin dating new people at some point — both of which are difficult to do if you co-parent in the same space.