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When a Child Speaks: What Family Courts Need to Hear

In this episode of the Children First Family Law podcast, Krista sits down with retired Judge Peggy Walsh, a former Family and Supreme Court judge from New York, about how courts handle a child’s voice in divorce and custody cases. Judge Walsh draws a clear distinction between two roles that often get blurred: advocating for what a child wants versus advocating for what adults think is best. In New York, children have a right to legal representation in all family court matters—free of charge. These attorneys are ethically obligated to present their client’s wishes, not their own opinions or the court’s preferences. When the Child’s Voice and Best Interest Collide Judge Walsh emphasizes that children rarely get to “decide,” but their preferences matter. Their words offer context, schedule realities, emotional responses, and daily challenges that no third party could replicate. Judges must then weigh those preferences against the legal standard of best interest, without ignoring what ...
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046: Teaching Kids to Cope: The Program Born from One Father’s Divorce Story with Dr. Don Gordon

In this episode of the Children First Family Law podcast, Krista Nash talks with Dr. Don Gordon, a clinical child psychologist and Executive Director of the Center for Divorce Education. Dr. Gordon shares how his personal experience with high-conflict divorce shaped his mission to help families reduce stress and improve parent-child relationships through evidence-based education. Their conversation centers around “Children in Between,” a widely used court-mandated parenting program, and its new companion course for kids. Dr. Gordon explains why emotional literacy, stress reduction, and safe communication are critical tools for children during separation and divorce. He also discusses the neuroscience of fight-or-flight responses in parents, how to interrupt reactive behaviors, and why involving kids in conversations about their feelings changes outcomes for life. Divorce doesn’t have to break a child’s emotional foundation if we give families the tools to manage it with care. In th...
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Treat Parenting After Divorce Like a Job—Because It Is One

In this episode of the Children First Family Law podcast, Krista Nash speaks with Allen Levy, MS LPC, about a truth too many families overlook: parenting after divorce is a job, and it needs to be treated like one. Allen’s approach, developed over years of work in high-conflict custody cases, calls for parents to stop trying to “fix” their relationship and instead focus on managing the shared responsibility of raising children. His curriculum breaks the job down into four key actions: communicating, decision-making, problem-solving, and resolving conflict, all within the context of a job share. The Parenting Job Description Allen lays it out simply: your job is to get your child to adulthood—alive, safe, and capable of independent living. That means: Providing a livable home, basic needs, and medical care Supporting a child’s education (but not doing their homework) Offering emotional safety without dragging kids into adult issues Staying focused on the child, not each other ...
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045: The Child’s Voice vs. The Child’s Best Interest: Lessons from New York with Judge Peggy Walsh

In today’s episode of Children First Family Law, Krista welcomes retired New York Judge, Peggy Walsh, who brings decades of experience from both the Family and Supreme Courts. Judge Walsh unpacks how New York’s family law system centers children’s voices in custody cases and what the rest of the country can learn from it. Krista and Judge Walsh explore how attorneys for children play an active role in advocating for a child’s stated preferences, even when they differ from best interest arguments. They also compare New York’s court structure with Colorado’s, explore trauma-informed judicial practices, and reflect on how systems either empower or silence young voices. Judge Walsh shares how she approached in-camera interviews with children and how her bench experience now informs her work as a coach for co-parents navigating conflict. When a child tells their attorney what they want, that’s not just testimony. It’s a window into what makes sense for that child’s life. In this episode...
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