What story do you want your kids to share about your divorce when they are grown? The decisions and actions you take now, shape their future narratives. Nesting offers your children the chance to create a story of a healthy and amicable separation or divorce.
What I say to the first noted potential clients is that I, as a neutral financial professional, promise them they will know everything financially related to their divorce prior to any decision making. It is my job to lay out all the assets and debts and income and expenses in simple and understandable form to both clients and any mediator or attorneys. It is also my job to educate my clients about taxes, tax filing status, health and life insurance, Social Security, pension values, and the consequences of dividing assets that have tax related issues.
Filing a petition for dissolution of marriage (divorce) simply opens a file at the courthouse and gives you a file number to use in the future. Nothing else will ever happen if no one files anything further. In fact in many counties, the court is obligated to close the case if no one files anything else within a 3-5-year period.
My earlier blog (“Making Sense of Those Legal Forms” posted February 1, 2021) discussed the forms that are needed to begin the process for divorce. This article is written to explain the forms that must be submitted to the court in order to complete the process of obtaining your divorce.
You have full support. Unlike in mediation, you have a lot of support and guidance throughout your Collaborative Divorce. A mediator is neutral, so he/she cannot advise you or advocate for either of you. The mediator should educate you about the law and can facilitate the conversation between you and your partner, but cannot stop you from making an uninformed or unwise decision. If you like the idea of mediation but feel that you would benefit from having your own lawyer’s guidance and support, Collaborative Divorce is the process to consider.
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Divorce Options® is three-hour Workshop providing information about self-representation, mediation, collaborative divorce, and litigated divorce.
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