Ending your marriage may be one of the most time-consuming, detail-driven, draining, and confusing things you ever do. Your divorce can touch just about every aspect of your life – everything from your health insurance to your son’s 8th birthday party. Fortunately, getting divorced is something that most of us do only once. The down-side to this one-time reality is that without prior experience divorcing people often fall into upheaval. If you find that you need more support and/or information than your neutral mediator can provide a Divorce Coach may be the right answer. Your Divorce Coach wi ..read more

By Deborah Beylus and Elinor Robin, PhD Our divorce industry cohorts all seem to be captivated by Johnny Depp’s televised defamation trial against ex-wife Amber Heard.  And they are not alone.  The Fairfax, Virginia Courthouse where the trial is taking place is drawing lots of public attention.  Spectator wannabees queue-up early each morning in the hopes of getting a wristband to watch from inside the courtroom.  There is a sea of news cameras and a band of photographers who stand on ladders, near the rear exit, capturing Depp and Heard as they come and go.  The bruha ..read more

What costs does one need to keep in mind when getting a divorce? Legal costs, moving costs, utility deposits, costs involved in purchasing all the things you left behind – tools, linen, furniture, kitchen stuff, etc.  Divorce is expensive, you are breaking up one household into two.  Many things need to be duplicated.    What is the average cost of divorce?   You can get divorced for the cost of a filing fee (varies by state between $50 and $600 – Its $409 or $408 in Florida).  And this cost may be waived if you can prove you are indigent.  On the oth ..read more

What are reasons to hold off on getting a divorce? If one spouse if getting health insurance from the other spouse’s employer.  Leaving a spouse without group health insurance can turn into a health disaster.    Older people, who have spent a lifetime together, and are past wanting to remarry, can often avoid a lot of hassle by staying married.  But, only if they are on good terms.  In these cases it is important to have good estate planning, including naming a health care surrogate. The bottom line – if a couple is not going to be together, but for what ever reason th ..read more

How does a prenuptial agreement affect a relationship? How your future spouse negotiates a prenuptial agreement will tell you a lot about how s/he will negotiate all the other (millions of) issues you will have to negotiate during your marriage.  Sadly, some people view the term “pre-nup” as a negative.  It would be better if we called these agreements Pre-Marriage Plans. It’s easy to see why it can be foolish to enter into something as big as marriage – which affects us physically, financially, socially, and psychologically – without a plan.  One BIG problem with pre-nups is th ..read more

Want to learn more about divorce? Listen to my podcast “The Divorce Deport” on Spotify and most other podcast platforms ..read more

Thank you David Schnitzer. We could not have a more articulate or passionate proponent of the Pro-Se/Pre-Suit Mediation Process. We are honored to have you as a part of this network and confident that you will continue your good work. In the meantime, I invite everyone to read this article about David and his divorce philosophy. David’s article ..read more

There are 5 key players in every divorce. (1) You. Three factors – who you are, what you want out of the divorce, and how eager you are to save or end your marriage – will impact how you show up and influence the divorce outcome. (2) Your spouse. The same three factors – Who s/he is, what s/he wants out of the divorce, and how eager s/he is to save or end the marriage – will influence the divorce outcome.  There are things you can do to encourage your spouse to do the right thing and make the divorce less painful for you both.  (3) Your attorney. His or her personality, motivations ..read more

Credit can be a mystery. But there are some key things every divorcing person needs to know in order to untangle joint finances and move forward. This article can help you start the credit clean-up that should be a part of your divorce.     Take a look at https://www.moneytalksnews.com/how-to-untangle-your-credit-when-you-divorce/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=email-2017-11-27-am&utm_medium=email&subscriber=yes     ..read more