A really large percent of divorces that go to court involve domestic violence or child abuse. Many people who divorce or separate just sort out their own arrangements outside the courts, informally, or through lawyers.

Yeah, thanks. Being forced to spend weekends at my dad’s and spending the whole weekend crying has had pretty bad effects on my mental health! But I guess things like that wouldn’t bother you, because it’s all about you and your needs.

My father’s not abusive. But my stepmother was horrible and I put my story about being forced to go visit and crying every weekend above. I haven’t cut off contact, but I don’t think my dad was a particularly good parent, and my mum was the one who was responsible for all of our expenses, even though my dad earned a…

Yes, I agree. My mum did make comments that were slightly disparaging about my dad in a (fondly) humorous way, that were a bit childish, and she was also legitimately angry at the lack of financial contributions and practical support. In an ideal world, she would have kept those thoughts to herself. But the main…

Yes to this! Being forced to visit my dad as a teenager was one of the worst parts of my life. It got to the stage where I would go there and literally cry all weekend because I hated it so much. It was basically just time in my life that was completely lost/wasted.

Same here. My mum pretty much begged me to go, so she could have the weekends to herself. I think a lot of single mums just want that time off parenting, really. I just hated my stepmother (who was legitimately not a nice person; I wasn’t just being capricious). My dad left all the parenting to her, and he was never…