If you want to succeed in upholding the best interests of your child and defending your rights, you should take the time to learn how the Friend of the Court system works. You cannot afford to be unaware of the rules of the system. Read the rest of this entry →

Simply by being organized and remaining actively involved in your case you may significantly reduce your legal fees. Your lawyer will provide you with a number of documents received during the proceeding. This may include correspondence, court notices or other legal documents. Not every document you receive will require you to respond. Additionally, you may not understand every document you receive. However, it is very important to review each piece of information and to contact your lawyer with any questions. Read the rest of this entry →

Generally speaking, there are some concrete things you can do when seeking custody of your kids that will better your chances. Note that doing these things has to become a “way of life” and must be sincere. By that, I mean you cannot merely approach them as a huge strategy that you execute only in an effort to get custody and forget about later on.
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Divorce can have devastating financial consequence. During a marriage, you learn to budget based on a “family” income and on “family” debts. Some of the monthly expenses remain constant like mortgages and car loan payments. After a divorce, that budget changes. Income must now be stretched to cover expenses related to two residences instead of one. This can be very difficult, and if proper planning is not provided, it is not uncommon that a divorce ultimately results in the filing of bankruptcy for each party. Read the rest of this entry →

Collaborative law is a new way to resolve disputes by removing the disputed matter from the litigious court room setting and treating the process as a way to “trouble shoot and problem solve” rather than to fight and win.

As part of the collaborative law method, both parties retain separate attorneys whose job it is to help them settle the dispute. No one may go to court. If that should occur, the collaborative law process terminates and both attorneys are disqualified from any further involvement in the case. Read the rest of this entry →

I remember sitting in the lunchroom at work, listening attentively as Lisa talked about another recent court hearing. Lisa, a brassy and fiery young mother of two children, was quite open about the conflicts between her and her ex-husband, and she would narrate the details to anyone who would listen. Raising her voice in righteous anger she would say, “If he thinks he’s going to avoid paying child support while he’s living it up with his girlfriend, he’s wrong!” Most people at work got tired of hearing about it – except for me that is. When Lisa talked, I listened. Sometimes I would gather up enough courage to ask her a question or two about her attorney or family law.. Read the rest of this entry →