Happy St. Patty’s Day!
Top O’ the Mornin to Ya! With St. Patrick’s Day just around the corner, I thought I would table divorce stuff for another week and share a little bit about what the day means to me and why. You might figure that with a name like Barney, I have some Irish...
Adding Detail and Depth to Divorce Agreements
The Divorce Agreement. When couples divorce there are certain items that need to be dealt with to consider the divorce complete. These issues include ending the status of the marriage, addressing the custody and visitation of minor children, setting child and spousal...
Divorce and Estate Planning
In a recent study conducted by caring.com it was found that while 56% of those surveyed believed that estate planning was important, only 33% of Americans had actually formally completed their estate plan. Each state has laws that determine what happens to somebody's...
Divorce Mediation and Life Insurance
It isn’t hard to think of a more pleasant combination of topics to write about than divorce and death, but here we are. It is valuable to understand the three primary situations where life insurance needs to be addressed in a divorce. The first situation is when the...
Divorce and Intention Visualization
It can be a very valuable exercise at the beginning of divorce for the divorcing couple to envision what they want things to look like in the end. The same is true for divorce professionals working with these couples to also carry what they would like things to look...
Happy International Child Centered Divorce Month!
I have seen a couple of recent articles stating that January is International Child Centered Divorce Month. I looked it up online and sure enough it is a real thing. Diving in a little deeper I discovered that July is National Child Centered Divorce Month in the...
To Zoom or Not to Zoom, that is the Question
In March of 2022 when the Courts closed and stay at home orders were issued I had mediated a total of zero divorces by way of zoom video conference. I had handled a few via phone conference out of necessity where one of the spouses lived out of town, which was less...
Reflections and Aspirations
There is a lot going on the last couple weeks of December. Most people probably don’t want to hear about divorce during this time. It is a time of celebration, a time of showing generosity, love, friendship and joy. It is a very busy time but also a time for peace,...
The Divorce Coach and High Emotions Throughout the Divorce
Over my years working as a Divorce Attorney and now Divorce Mediator, I have seen numerous stories of spouses and other divorce professionals being killed by angry opposing spouses in the midst of their divorces. I have been part of an office that had a client kill...
Stay in Control with Divorce Mediation
One way for couples to keep their power throughout the divorce process is to work together to resolve their issues through divorce mediation. When divorcing couples hire attorneys and step into the Courthouse to have the Judge rule on their issues, they have...