Rockville, MD Child Custody Negotiations with a Narcissist Lawyer

Experienced Attorney for Narcissist Divorce in Rockville, MD

Getting out of a relationship with a narcissist is hard enough if you are not married or do not have any children together. If you do share children, or you are married, or both, ending the relationship can be extremely challenging. While an uncontested divorce offers a lot of benefits, getting a narcissist to agree to a parenting plan is not an easy feat. Narcissists will usually do or say anything to avoid "losing," and are likely to see a compromise as a way of "losing." This makes negotiating with and divorcing a narcissist exceedingly difficult, especially when child custody is involved.

Having an aggressive divorce lawyer who is experienced in negotiating with narcissists is essential. Approaching negotiations with a narcissist the wrong way can render all efforts to reach an agreement futile. The attorneys at Diamant Gerstein, LLC are highly experienced in representing people who are trying to leave their narcissistic co-parents. We have become adept at facilitating compromise between our clients and their narcissistic co-parents.

Narcissistic Behavior in Divorce Mediation

Your narcissistic spouse is very likely to use your children to emotionally manipulate you during child custody negotiations. Your spouse knows you are emotionally vulnerable when it comes to your children. He or she may resort to threats, like threatening to call CPS and say that you abused the children, or threatening to "go for full custody." While these threats are generally empty, they can be frightening to hear. Narcissists may also try to stall negotiations, hoping that if he or she can keep the divorce from finalizing for long enough, you will give up and stay married.

How We Handle Child Custody Negotiations With Narcissists

It is generally better to avoid any type of alternative dispute resolution strategy that involves direct contact between you and your spouse. Traditional mediation or negotiation, where you and your spouse are in the same room with your attorneys and a mediator if you are using one, rarely works.

One option is to use a style of mediation where the parties are kept separated and the mediator acts as a go-between. Another option is attorney-facilitated negotiation, where the attorneys only talk to each other and to their respective clients. This eliminated unproductive communication, like insults or off-topic accusations.

Tips for Negotiating Child Custody When the Other Parent is a Narcissist

Tips for negotiating child custody with a narcissist include:

• Be ready to litigate - There is always some chance that your spouse will refuse to agree to any parenting plan that is fair to you and best for the children. Be prepared to go through with contesting the divorce if he or she will not compromise.
• Focus on your children - Remember that the goal is to do what is best for your children, even if your ex views negotiations as a competition between parents.
• Do not give in to threats - Your ex will probably make some empty threats. Your attorney will be able to tell you if you should take a legal threat seriously. If your spouse is threatening to lie about something, your attorney can help you document it and gather evidence to reveal the truth.
• Let your lawyer handle communications - All of your communication should go through your lawyers. Unless one of you needs to reach the other urgently about a situation involving your children, it is best to let your attorneys facilitate all talks. This reduces the opportunities your co-parent will have to try to manipulate you.

Contact a Rockville, MD Child Custody Lawyer

Diamant Gerstein, LLC has years of experience helping parents negotiate child custody with their narcissistic co-parents. Our dedicated Rockville, MD parenting plan negotiation attorneys will work to shield you from your spouse's attempts at manipulation. Contact us at 301-560-2685 for a confidential consultation.