Monthly Archives: June 2013

June 26, 2013

Dreadlocks and Divorce

Well, I’m doing it. Right now. I am at the salon having my hair teased, twisted, and permed into dreadlocks. I have been waiting a year for this, growing my hair out to six inches in length. It was with dread Continue reading…

June 24, 2013

We’re Divorcing, What about Special Family Events?

Categories: Children in Divorce • Collaborative Law • Divorce • Parents

No matter when a divorce commences, it is practically inevitable that there will be at least one special event—a child’s birthday, a graduation, a holiday, a family reunion—that occurs during the divorce process. Determining how to celebrate such events can Continue reading…

June 21, 2013

Divorce: Not One-Size-Fits-All

Categories: Alimony • Collaborative Law • Divorce

A recent article in Time Magazine called The End of Alimony discusses some of the potentially unfair and unrealistic outcomes that can result from the current family legal system. The example highlighted in the article discusses a second wife having Continue reading…

June 20, 2013

Getting Unmarried Part I: The Beginning of the End of a Marriage

Categories: Divorce • Separation

In this upcoming series of posts I will outline what I think were the most important decisions I had to make when in 2008 I began the journey to end my thirty-year marriage. It is my hope that readers of Continue reading…

June 19, 2013

Guilt and Ambivalence About Divorce

Categories: Children in Divorce • Collaborative Law • Divorce • Divorce Prevention • Marriage Reconciliation

Debra Messing recently expressed guilt over her divorce and the fact that she and her husband couldn’t give her son “the fantasy” that her parents gave her in a marriage that was now ending. She said she and her husband Continue reading…

June 14, 2013

The “Graying” of Divorce

Categories: Divorce • Domestic Violence • Family Law • Parents • Separation

While the divorce rate in the U. S. has been decreasing since its peak in the 1980’s, divorce rates for those over the age of 50 is at an all-time high. The divorce rate for this age group has doubled Continue reading…

June 13, 2013

Spousal Maintenance: First vs. Second Wives

Categories: Alimony • Collaborative Law • Divorce

Wow, the phrase “First vs. Second Wives” makes me cringe. There is so much wrong with it, or at least so much to dislike or be uncomfortable about. Let me count the ways (Keep in mind that this is in the Continue reading…

June 7, 2013

Mutually Informed

Categories: Collaborative Law • Divorce

“I am so glad we came in together, this has been so helpful.” This is a comment I hear so often from couples after they come in to meet with me together to talk about their divorce process options. Not Continue reading…

June 6, 2013

Waiting to Divorce Until Kids Have Grown, Does It Work?

Categories: Children in Divorce • Collaborative Law • Divorce • Family Law • Parents

My wonderful in-laws were married for more than 71 years. During their later years, visitors to their apartment were surprised to see a copy of The Collaborative Way to Divorce on their bookshelf. The confusion was remedied after it they explained Continue reading…

June 3, 2013

The Best Wedding Gift of All

Categories: Children in Divorce • Collaborative Law • Divorce • Family Law • Money and Finances • Parents • Separation

Have you ever attended a wedding where the groom’s parents refused to be in the same photograph? Do you know a bride who had to keep her divorced parents separated during the reception? The resulting tension can be palpable to Continue reading…