Families Today

Chapter 14: Divorce and Remarriage

Check Your Answers: Section Review Answer Keys

Section 14.1 When Marriages End

1. Answers will vary but should include three of the following: partners grow in different directions, may not communicate, have problems they cannot solve, physical or mental cruelty may exist.
2. Both partners want to divorce. Neither partner is to blame.
3. Child custody defines how child support is handled.

Practice Academic Skills

4. Answers will vary but could include: Basic divorce mediation training is 40 hours. Mediator works to identify and solve problems. Mediation leads to agreement in half to three-fourths of mediated divorces.
5. Types of custody are: sole—one spouse keeps all legal rights and responsibilities of parenting; joint— parents share in decisions; split—each parent has custody of one or more of the children; alternate—children live first with one parent then with the other parent. Each parent has decision-making power; third-party— someone else is assigned as the children's legal guardian. Advantages and disadvantages will vary.

Section 14.2 Manage After Divorce

1. The time around the parents' separation is most difficult for children.
2. People with more resources, whether they are financial, emotional, social and community, adjust better.
3. In a blended family, one or both spouses have been married before and have children from one or more prior marriages.

Practice Academic Skills

4. Answers will vary but should give a positive connotation to the negative terms.
5. Answers will vary. Lists should be well thought out, logical, and useful.