Custody battles increasing in US

The number of divorce cases which involve a battle over the custody of children is on the rise in the US, new figures suggest.

According to a survey conducted by the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML), 33 per cent of lawyers said that in the last five years there has been an increase in divorces which involve children. Moreover, 75 per cent of the US-based lawyers questioned for the study said that any divorce which involved a custody battle was likely to be more contentious than one which did not.

Gaetano Ferro, president of the AAML, commented: "Divorce is never an easy experience. Children can make it more difficult for the parties to reach reasonable agreements.

"Disagreements about financial issues may cause the parents to act emotionally or irrationally when it comes to the children. The primary goal of both parents and their attorneys should be to avoid conduct which would be detrimental to the children's best interests."

Mr Ferro suggested that any couple with children going through a divorce could make the process easier by maintaining contact with their youngsters, reminding them that their parent's break-up is not their fault, by not criticising their estranged partner in front of them and by not using their children to check up on their former spouse.