Collaborative Law Institute Blog – Family Law Attorneys & Professionals
Collaborative Divorce in Minnesota: The Financial Neutral’s Role in Creating Better Outcomes
When Minnesota couples choose Collaborative Divorce, they are choosing a process designed to resolve divorce without court, without escalation, and without unnecessary financial damage. At the center of this process is a role many people have never heard of—but one...
What is Child Inclusive Mediation and when do you use it?
Child Inclusive Mediation is a process that allows children to have a voice in the divorce process. In Child Inclusive Mediation, divorcing parents and their attorneys bring in two professionals, one an experienced mediator, and the other a trained mental health...
The Good Family Law Attorney
“Can you refer me to a good family law attorney?” is a common question. Thinking about this question, I often wonder what people mean when they say “good family law attorney?” If you ask an attorney in a large firm, they often refer people to attorneys in large...
Why Court-Ordered Refinances Often Fail — and How to Prevent It
In divorce agreements, it is common to see language such as: “Spouse A shall refinance the mortgage within 90 days and remove Spouse B from liability.” On paper, that sounds simple. In practice, it often fails. As mortgage professionals working alongside collaborative...
Does Collaborative Divorce Put the Lower Income Spouse at a Disadvantage?
People sometimes tell me they’ve heard that collaborative divorce works better for the higher income spouse. The idea is that the person with more money will always have more influence, more control, and more options. If you earn less than your spouse, it can feel...
Divorce With Respect – Finding Self Respect
Judith Wallerstein, in her ground-breaking 25-year study of divorcing parents and their children, was perhaps the first social science researcher to notice it. The injury to self which can happen in divorce is much deeper than what people were thinking throughout...
Divorce With Respect – The value of one-sided respect
Those of us who practice Collaborative Team Divorce sometimes get asked the question: “What if my spouse isn’t willing or able to show me respect? Why then should I respect them? What’s the value of that?” There is value to one partner offering respect as a...
No doubt – there’s a better way to divorce
The Broadway touring production of Mrs. Doubtfire is coming to the Ordway in St. Paul, MN March 17-22, 2026. https://doubtfirethemusical.com/tour This first came out as a film in 1993 and starred Robin Williams as the Dad in a family that went through a bitter,...
Divorce with Respect: The Habits of Respect
What happens to couples who threaten each other when it comes to divorce? It’s an automatic response, which happens on a physiological level first. What some brain researchers refer to as the “fight, flight or freeze” phenomenon is an automatic survival mechanism...
The Power of Respect when Children are Scared
“I’m just really, really scared all the time.” A nine-year-old shared this during her child-inclusive post-divorce mediation. This was not because her parents were often in disagreement and she sometimes felt in the middle of it (she did), but because of where each...
