I had a consultation this week with a spouse who was beginning to gather information for possibly proceeding with a divorce. I gave her information about mediation to share with the absent spouse in the event she could persuade him to consider the mediation option. ...
I have always loved New Years. Earlier this month I wrote about making resolutions and reflecting on the year gone by. I continue to be one of those people who likes to stay up until midnight and count down the arrival of the new year, bang on pots and pans, give big...
Each year around this time I spend some time reviewing my New Year’s Resolutions from the past year to check in and see how I did and then consider if I want to continue chasing those that I have not yet attained, or whether I want to build some new ones. I have...
With Thanksgiving upon us, it is time to take a short break from speaking about divorce and instead take a little time for celebration and thankfulness. Earlier this week over dinner the topic of conversation was thinking back and sharing about our favorite...
Getting to the finish line in your divorce involves resolving all of the issues. When you have children the issues are custody, visitation, child support, spousal support and dividing up your assets and debts. If you don’t have children, it is resolving spousal...
When couples mediate they have lots of options to consider when addressing what will happen with the family home. If the issue is litigated the options are usually for one spouse to buy out the other one through a refinance or that the house be sold. Sometimes these...
Divorce poses the very unique challenge of finding a practical way to bring the marriage to an end while keeping an eye to preserving all the other important relationships that have grown over time from the intersection of the worlds of the two spouses. Finding a way...
One very important and challenging issue in divorce is figuring out how the family finances will be handled once the couple has separated. When children are involved the management of the children’s needs is addressed through child support. Whether or not there are...
A common question I hear during my first consultation with couples gathering information as they prepare to divorce, is “how long does the process take?” There are a few different clocks that we must reference to answer this question. First, in mediation, there is...
This past week I had the opportunity to chat with two wonderful therapists, Miriam Collada with Collada Counseling in Mission Valley, who is just beginning to embark on her private practice journey and Kara Kohnen, with Grow Through Life Counseling, who has been at...
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...
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...
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...