Please readThis is a community space for sharing personal experience — it is not legal advice, and posts here are not from Lawma or your attorney. We strongly encourage you to post under an anonymous handle, keep questions general, and avoid posting private details of your active case. For advice about your own situation, message your attorney.

My adult kid shut down completely when we told them

CAstarting_over_20261 month ago

Told our 21-year-old about the divorce a month ago. She's barely responding to my calls. Just 'okay, mom.' She used to talk for hours.

2 replies

deepwater1 month ago

Adult-child reaction is its own thing — they have to recalibrate their whole childhood narrative. My 24-year-old went silent for two months, then started asking very pointed questions. The silence isn't rejection, it's processing.

j_ramos1 month ago

What worked for me: shorter, lower-pressure contact. Texts with photos, not phone calls. 'Saw this and thought of you.' She came back to phone calls 4 months later when she was ready.

Around the case

Other things people in your situation usually need to handle. Some are paid partners; some are free community resources — labeled clearly.

★ Lawma trusts this · Not an ad

Sesame Workshop — Divorce toolkit

Talking-to-kids resources · Free

Free professional toolkit for explaining family changes to young kids — videos, conversation starters, printable activity sheets.

Browse the toolkit →

✦ Sponsored partner

Warmlight Therapy

Telehealth therapy · Sliding $40–$160 / session

Sliding-scale, telehealth and in-person. Therapists with experience in divorce, custody, parenting, and trauma.

Book a session →

✦ Sponsored partner

OurFamilyWizard

Co-parenting app · $144 / year

Court-accepted shared calendar, expense ledger, and tone-checked messaging for high-conflict co-parenting. Used in 75 countries.

Start free trial →