Collaborative Law Institute Blog – Family Law Attorneys & Professionals
But Where Will I Go Trick or Treating?
The psychologist Anthony Wolf wrote a book about divorce and kids entitled Why Do You Have to Get a Divorce? And Can I Still Get a Hamster? I love the title of this book, because it identifies both the big picture concerns and the day to day questions children will...
Helping Your Grandchildren through Divorce
When you find out your son or daughter is getting a divorce, your first thought will often be about their children; your grandchildren. How will the children be affected by all of this? And how can you help; or avoid hurting the situation? During the 31 years I have...
Collaborative Divorce: Saving You More than Just Money
Potential divorce clients often ask, how much does a collaborative divorce cost? Great question, it differs with each case and is dependent on clients and their level of conflict regardless of process. The more conflict a couple brings to any divorce process the more...
First Comes Love, Then Comes Gay Marriage…Then Comes Gay Divorce
Remember that old rhyme from childhood, “First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes a baby in a baby carriage”? Some things are just part of life and are simply inevitable. People will fall in love. People will join together in relationships. These are all...
Setting Fitness Goals Post-Divorce
It may be hard to believe, but 2014 is two-thirds of the way over. Did you set a new year’s goal that you have long forgotten about? Now is as good of time as any to set a new goal and hold yourself accountable. With the kids going back to school maybe you will be...
Part I: Advocacy in the “Right-based” Court Model
Parties going through a divorce need to understand that advocacy in the “rights-based” Court Model and advocacy in the “interest-based” Collaborative Model are different; and advocacy in each of these models feels different as well. Bear with me while I examine...
Finding Silver in a Silver Mine
As I listened to the appalling news out of Ferguson, MO, last week, I was especially struck by two things: First, a veteran police officer, a retired chief of a municipal department, shared an observation that his officers made during unrest in his city, that when...
Back to School After a Divorce
The kids might not be the only ones headed back to school this fall. Divorce forces many parents back into the workforce, and for some, even back to school. Divorce can initiate some dramatic changes in your lifestyle, and it make you re-evaluate yourself and your...
The Collaborative Approach to Child Support
How to provide financially for children after divorce has been a much-discussed topic for decades. Courts have traditionally used child support guidelines established by state government to calculate a monthly payment from one parent to the other. The Minnesota...
Peace is Possible
Peace is possible though we are surrounded by high conflict. In the recent words of former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, “The world is a mess.” Messiness occurs when people are unable or unwilling to resolve differences without wars of words or weapons. ...
