I was asked to write this article from the perspective of a non-attorney Divorce Mediator. Divorce mediation, as with a traditional divorce, tries to achieve the same end result, a set of agreements that are equitable and can be lived with by both parties. Where they differ sometimes is that mediation is also about helping
In my last blog post I suggested that sending mediation clients off to separate attorneys was not being helpful. In response to this proposition one reader, an attorney and mediator from California, suggested that I had a low opinion of attorneys. I hope not. I have been a proud member
TAMPA — He got the furniture. She got the car. They split custody of their daughter and everybody’s happy. The divorce of Tyler Nelson and Pamela Burton will be finalized on Friday, but they didn’t have to go through years of litigation or deal with months of acrimony to legally end their marriage. The couple
Let’s cut to the chase: compulsive shopping and credit card addiction are genuine problems, and they’re more common than you may think. If you suspect that you suffer from a compulsive shopping and/or credit card addiction, it’s important that you understand two things: You are not alone. There is a way out. This article isn’t
Traditionally couples divorce as adversaries, hiring separate attorneys to wrangle over child custody and support, maintenance, assets and anything else they care about, even the dog. It’s high stakes poker. Ante up: legal costs, kids, stress. But there’s another way. Increasingly couples are turning to divorce mediation as a realistic and healthier alternative. A couple
Not all divorces are ugly. Some exes mediate instead of hiring pit bull attorneys, sit comfortably together at their kids’ school performances and maintain the same rules in each household. Child support is paid on time. Neither parent speaks ill of the other in front of the children. Timeshares are flexible to support children’s changing
In my almost 28 years on the bench — most of which I spent presiding over family matters in the Circuit Court of Lake County in Waukegan — I had a front-row seat for an amazing display of human nature. I met families in crisis, parents in stress, and children in trouble. They arrived in
In today’s economic environment, it is a very difficult decision to opt for a divorce and end a dysfunctional relationship. Today there can be enough stress in people’s lives to make them hesitant to compound that problem by adding the stress of a divorce. However, there is a proven and slowly growing alternative to the
“Family values” is a buzzword these days. We read about it in the newspapers and hear about it in political speeches and debates. From a Torah perspective, we applaud the espousal of these social values and national policies as they represent a return to our own traditional values. Judaism has always preached that the fate
In week six of Children of Divorce and Changing Families’ 8-week program, we do an exercise where we ask each child in the 10-12 year old group to create a set of rules that they wish their parents would follow to ease post divorce stresses. The rules they write privately are then shared with the
