There are a lot of issues with children going through a divorce. There may be significant emotional and behavioral issues. The state now requires that parents attend a parenting education class prior to finalizing the divorce.  The idea is that the divorce is difficult on children and parents should be educated regarding not how to raise children but the impact that the divorce may have.  Whether this is a good idea or not that it is mandatory is disputable but it is now the law.

Parents do need to understand whether through classes and education or on their own that the break up of a family can have profound impact on children.  Parents need to put their children first.  Basic advice is no matter how bad the other spouse is or how they are behaving- do not bad mouth that spouse to the child.  Do not make the child the messenger or give the child too much information.   Parental alienation of the other spouse is a large concern for the court.  Try  to think about the impact the divorce may have on the children and how to minimize this.

In court, in extreme cases you can ask for a GAL to resolve some of the issues regarding children or also pay for a parenting coordinator to help parties in a high conflict case resolve some parenting issues.