Taking the weight off our shoulders and Divorce
Back in 2020 I shifted my divorce practice to full time mediation and two years ago I made the final Court appearance in my last remaining contested case. As a mediator I do not represent either side so, while I am regularly filing paperwork with the Court to...
Divorce Reimbursement and Paying a Spouse’s Prior Support Obligations
Your situation may involve circumstances where you, or your spouse, was required to pay child or spousal support for a prior spouse or children outside of the marriage. These obligations need to be factored into the family finances during the marriage. So, what...
Paying for Appraisals and other Valuations in Divorce.
To be in a position to understand how to fairly divide assets and obligations in a divorce, we need to know their value. For complying with the Court’s disclosure requirements we are also required to place values on everything. For many assets this is an easy task. ...
Realtors and Divorce
One often challenging issue in divorce is sorting out what will happen to the family residence. I have written prior blogs about some of the options and considerations, including one spouse moving forward with a buyout, deferring the sale until the market is better...
Using Financial Professionals to Support a Healthy Divorce
Most people facing divorce think first and foremost to find a divorce attorney to move them through the process. I encourage couples to also look at hiring a mediator as a first resource. Whichever path is taken there are other professional resources to bring into...
Police Dogs, Bar Exams and Divorce Mediation
This past weekend I was cleaning up some old files and I happened across a copy of my old bar exam dated Tuesday morning, July 28, 1992. I didn’t even realize that I had kept a copy, yet here it was over 30 years later, reminding me of my beginnings in the law. At...
Credit Card Perks and Divorce.
In a recent study it was reported that nearly half of American households use credit cards to earn perks such as cash back, points to use toward purchases, and travel miles. Credit card companies entice users to run up debt so that substantial interest can be earned...
Divorce and the Needs of Adult Children.
For many of us parents who have adult children we recognize that our children don’t magically become fully self-sufficient when they turn 18 and graduate from high school. When couples divorce in California the legal requirement to support them (unless they are...
Full Disclosure and Divorce.
In my ongoing efforts to simplify the process of divorce, I have boiled it down into four basic steps. First, getting educated on the law and the issues. Second, the exchange of a thorough and complete disclosure. Third, resolving the issues through settlement or...
Untangling and Divorce Mediation.
When we get married we make a conscious decision to become entangled with our partner. As they say, we “tie the knot.” We move from being individuals to being a partnership. We entangle our personal lives, our finances and our assets and obligations. We may...