Blog
June 1, 2023 » Wondering if Divorce is Right for You?
Remember when you had a great relationship and enough hopes for the future to marry? These can be reasons not to divorce, along with concerns about children’s welfare and resilience and relationships with your spouse’s family and other ways you are entwined that are valuable to you. Discernment Counseling is a one to five session process of gaining clarity and confidence in your decision along with gaining understanding of how you and your spouse got to the point that divorce is an option.
May 1, 2023 » Divorce: Supporting Your Child’s Relationship with Your Other Parent.
Divorce is a difficult and emotional process for both the spouses and the children involved. When parents decide to separate, it is important for them to recognize the impact it can have on their children, and to make an effort to support their relationship with the other parent.
April 1, 2023 » Prenuptial Agreements: 4 Items to Discuss as You Create Your Marriage Success Plan
The time leading up to your wedding will be filled with love, excitement, and optimism. Whether you’ll be keeping things sweet and simple or going big with the ceremony and celebration, I hope you enjoy the fun experience of planning your special day. So, what role do prenuptial agreements play in this exciting time? Some engaged couples are under the impression that prenuptial agreements lead to an admission that they’ll end up getting divorced. Nothing could be further from the truth.
March 1, 2023 » How Do I Start a Collaborative Divorce?
When someone is just beginning to think about a divorce, there can be so much fear about what is going to happen. A good way to get off on the right foot in your divorce is to meet with a Collaborative Divorce Navigator.
February 1, 2023 » Divorce With Respect Week – March 6 –10, 2023
Collaborative Practice California, the umbrella group for all of California’s Collaborative Practice Groups, is offering California residents FREE 30-minute divorce consultations provided by volunteer attorneys, mental health professionals, and divorce financial specialists. These consultations are like any intake meeting with a prospective client.
January 3, 2023 » Do I Need to State a Reason for Filing a Divorce?
In summary as addressed above, most individuals select “irreconcilable differences” as the reason for their divorce in California because it is the easiest to prove and does not require expert testimony about the other person’s mental capacity.
December 1, 2022 » Dating After Divorce: Blending Families
About six months after you met, you agreed it was time to meet each other’s children. You know it is not easy for children to allow a new adult into their lives so you want to be as careful as possible. You expect your ex-husband will not take it well that you are in a new relationship, however, you know it is better to tell him before you introduce the children to your new partner.
November 1, 2022 » My Kids Blame Me for the Divorce: What Can I Do?
The crisis of divorce brings many unexpected losses. One of the most painful is when your children blame you for the divorce. Kids are caught in a trap—whom to blame, who needs loyalty, who is most vulnerable. You can ease the burden for them.
September 1, 2022 » My Spouse Wants a Divorce – Where Do I Start?
Prospective clients often call me to say they have just been told that their spouse wants a divorce, they are frightened and have no idea where to start. I usually suggest they attend a free online Divorce Options Workshop.
August 1, 2022 » How to Keep Your Marriage Alive and Avoid a Divorce
When something is on your mind, find a time to discuss it calmly, with the goal of a constructive, problem-solving conversation. Long-term relationships’ disagreements look different because they are often sprinkled with humor and affection. This is one of the keys to a long-term happy relationship.
July 1, 2022 » Am I Receiving the Right Amount of Child Support?
Remember that the right amount of child support, is not always what a computer program comes up with. The better description might be the amount that will meet the reasonable needs of your children without causing significant detriment to the person paying or receiving it.
June 1, 2022 » Divorcing: I Don’t Want to Have to Go Back to Work!
I am often asked questions like “Do I have to go back to work after our divorce when we agreed I would I care for our children?”
May 1, 2022 » The Value of Curiosity – Especially in Divorce
When you stay open to the possibility that you do not necessarily know what your partner will say or do and you monitor your assumptions about them, you may be able to maintain a channel of communication that is less fraught with argument and disappointment. You may still not like what he or she is wanting, but you will at least not like it from the standpoint of knowing that it is what they are actually want.
April 1, 2022 » Will I Have to Pay Spousal Support?
We discussed using a Collaborative Divorce process where Julie is separately represented by a Collaboratively-trained attorney with prior experience on various spousal support outcomes. We could involve mutually agreed upon mental health coaches and/or neutral financial professionals to look at emotional concerns and property division settlement options. This would save them both the cost of hiring different experts to testify in court at $500 or more an hour, while also paying their litigation attorneys’ fees to cross-examine each expert, and waiting 90 days for the judge to make a ruling. And the ruling could be quite unfavorable.
March 1, 2022 » Can we have a Collaborative Divorce if we don’t talk?
By choosing a Collaborative Divorce, couples are choosing an option that provides structure to support them individually and together. Even when they can’t talk to each other.
February 1, 2022 » The Best Divorce
Thinking about the various changes that accompany divorce, how can you respond in a way that elicits the BEST future life for you and your loved ones? This question might be your beacon during and after your divorce, to guide you along the way.
January 1, 2022 » My Spouse Won’t Agree to Divorce. What Can I Do?
December 1, 2021 » Should I Rush to File for Divorce before the 10 Year Mark
If you both enter into a Collaborative Divorce process in good faith, don’t rush out to file for divorce or panic if you are on either side of the “ten year” marriage. Trust that you and your spouse can create an appropriate agreement that doesn’t depend on a knee-jerk reliance on “rules” that may or may not be true.
November 1, 2021 » Step into Your Power – Choose a Collaborative Divorce
Proceeding with a Collaborative Divorce is a healthier alternative for most divorcing families. Collaborative Divorce means you’ve agreed not to litigate.
October 1, 2021 » Why Consider a Collaborative Divorce?
You might choose a Collaborative Divorce because you want to stay out of court, keep conflict to a minimum, and have control over the process. In a Collaborative Divorce, no one enters a courtroom.