In the digital age, we rely on our smartphones for virtually everything. With over 51% of smartphone users discovering a new product or company while conducting a search on our devices and many of us using our iPhones as lifelines, it’s no wonder technology gets a brunt of the blame — along with acclaim — for how we communicate. And while social media addiction can cause a lot of harm, in some cases, our smartphones can hold the key to healthier relationships and finding a way forward.
Although 93% of brides use the internet to plan their wedding, there are also those who depend on technology to end their marriages. Certainly, you can communicate discretely with your divorce lawyer via text or email. And if you find yourself in the middle of a domestic violence situation, there are even apps that help victims gather evidence against their abusers. But assuming that your impending separation is relatively run-of-the-mill, that doesn’t mean you won’t need a technological support system to weather the storm that’s yet to come.
Fortunately, there are also apps that can help divorcing couples — especially those who share children — to make the best of a bad situation.
For instance, there are a number of apps that are geared towards helping co-parents keep track of important financial aspects of their custody agreements. SupportPay is intended to help parents make child support, spousal support, alimony, healthcare, and other payments to their former spouses and easily track those payments through the app. There are also apps like Divorcify, which is marketed as a “divorce GPS” to provide you with a roadmap and all kinds of resources in your area along the way. Whether you need to balance your budget or want to get yourself into therapy, this app can point you in the right direction. And if you’re looking to get rid of your engagement ring, you can use an app like Worthy to sell your jewelry quickly so you can make a bit of extra money and remove a constant reminder of your marriage at the same time.
Co-parenting apps are also incredibly popular. 2Houses is an app for divorced parents who want a little bit of everything; through the app, you gain access to basic financial management tools, shared calendars, photo albums, journals, messaging features, and more. You can also use Divorce Log to track documentation for your divorce and custody arrangements in one central location. Coparently, coParenter, and Custody Connection apps can help parents keep a shared calendar based on custody arrangements that can be changed based on requests made. Although non-custodial parents typically have 88 days with their children on average during the year, an app like this can be useful when older children have a say in how custody arrangements are made and changed over time. OurFamilyWizard is another app that may appeal to those in co-parenting situations, as it’s meant to improve communications between divorced parents and children or other relatives. It also offers a synchronized calendar, financial features, and an area to securely keep important information like medical history, insurance coverage, school schedules, and emergency contacts.
Ultimately, negotiating a divorce or crafting a child support arrangement will never be easy or enjoyable. But by downloading a few apps on your phone, many of them free of charge, you’ll be able to determine what’s really important and make the process a bit less painful.
