9 Steps to Keep Your Divorce Fees Down In my 25+ years of mediating family law and divorce matters, I’ve seen thousands of divorces successfully complete. Some of my most complex marital estates manage to finish in a few months with only two or three, two-hour meetings while other less complex matters take three years or more and countless scheduled and delayed meetings, emails, … [Read more...] about Divorce Cost Inflators
Will The Stimulus Affect My Child Support?
A former mediation client writes: I recently received a stimulus check of $1200 and I’m wondering if the $600 I received for [our child] should be divided and sent to [her Father] or will he receive his own check as well?How should we handle this sort of situation? This is a familiar question these days. And it may be of more interest if/when the next stimulus, proposed to be $2,000 each, … [Read more...] about Will The Stimulus Affect My Child Support?
What Does it Mean To Have a Child-Centered Divorce?
Robert McNamara, former Secretary of Defense during the 1960s, was the subject of a documentary film called The Fog of War. The title derives from the military concept of the "fog of war" depicting the difficulty of making decisions in the midst of conflict. The same challenge happens to divorcing couples. The ‘fog of war’ can affect decision making leading to an escalation of … [Read more...] about What Does it Mean To Have a Child-Centered Divorce?
The Importance of Privacy in Divorce
If you are contemplating a divorce and keeping your financial [and other] affairs private matters to you, you need to know how different divorce processes work. You can choose a divorce process where your private information becomes part of the public record for anyone to review, where every court hearing is open to the public to attend, or you can choose a divorce process that will keep your … [Read more...] about The Importance of Privacy in Divorce
How Does Child Support Work?
Parents who divorce face the reality that two homes will be trying to meet budgets on the same income that once supported just one. The children will go back and forth between these two homes spending significant time in each home. Best outcomes for the children dictate they should feel comfortable at each home and believe that mom’s house is their house and that dad’s house is their house. It is … [Read more...] about How Does Child Support Work?
How To Determine Child Custody and Visitation
Child Custody and visitation are determined based upon the best interests of the children. These determinations may be made by agreement of the parents or after hearing upon the findings and orders of a court. Courts are supportive and very encouraging for parents to make these determinations by agreement. Courts know parents know their children better than anyone and can agree to custody and … [Read more...] about How To Determine Child Custody and Visitation
What Does It Mean to Be A Family Peacemaker?
Visiting with my father-in-law recently, our conversation turned to a recollection from my litigation past. Time and resources are always at a premium in the courtroom, and judges can lose patience with litigants whom they perceive as unreasonable or wasting the court’s time. This couple on this day, 12 – 15 years ago, rang that bell. They were standing in front of the court using their time to … [Read more...] about What Does It Mean to Be A Family Peacemaker?
Dealing with the Fear in a Divorce
Most of the emotions that we see during the course of the breakdown of a marriage and the divorce process boil down to fear. I do not say that from my own expertise but from what I have heard over and over again from my colleagues in the mental health profession. The first victim of any marriage that is failing is communications. As communications break down, people can no longer … [Read more...] about Dealing with the Fear in a Divorce
