When we help divorcing couples through a case in Collaborative Divorce, we rely on what’s called a “Roadmap to Resolution” to assist us in the process. One of the first steps in the Roadmap is to gather information. Thanks to the digital age, the kind of information we’re gathering is expanding. I was first made of two new asset categories by one of the leaders in the Collaborative community, and someone who I work with on Collaborative cases regularly, San Antonio attorney Kim … [Read more...]
Pro Bono Collaborative Divorce Moves Forward in Texas
Pro Bono Collaborative Divorce has come to Texas; learn more about how it works. After two years of planning and preparation and the launching of a pilot program in Houston, Pro Bono Collaborative Divorce has finally come to Texas. Translated, this means that in a short time, the advantages of collaborative divorce will be available to clients who cannot afford to hire a lawyer to represent them. So what is Pro Bono Collaborative Divorce (PBCD), and who will be eligible to utilize the … [Read more...]
Pro Bono: Toward Collaborative Divorce For All Who Want It
We're not an organization that typically touts our awards, but the State Bar of Texas recently honored the efforts of two longtime Collaborative Divorce Texas members, and Collaborative Divorce Texas itself, with its 2016 Pro Bono Service Award. The vision of collaborative divorce for all, through an innovative program that makes collaborative divorce possible for lower-income people, has debuted in Houston and has helped its first couples to collaborative divorce. From the press … [Read more...]
Separate Property Claims and Tracing in Divorce
I worked my first separate property tracing case in 1988 and have been participating in them ever since. Separate property claims can be and often are hotly contested and emotional matters in a Texas divorce no matter if the divorce is done in regular litigation or a collaborative process. The general presumption is that all property owned at divorce is community property and therefore is to be divided between the spouses. An exception is made for claims for separate property. Separate property … [Read more...]
You Don’t Have to Be A Celebrity to Want a Private Divorce
For those who want to avoid the public eye — and you don't have to be a celebrity to want that — a collaborative divorce might be your best option for a private divorce. We ran across a recent article in the Collaborative Law Institute of Minnesota blog titled "Divorce in the Public Eye." It started with an acknowledgment of celebrity divorce, before moving into local public figures like "our children’s teachers, our mayors, [and our] city councilmen," as well as discussion about a current … [Read more...]
The Four Stages of Divorce
Knowing the four stages of divorce can help you stay on the same page with everyone else involved in the divorce. We wanted to share a blog article that San Antonio family lawyer and Collaborative Divorce Texas member Harry Munsinger shared on his website. Titled “The Four Stages of Divorce,” it looks at the emotional process that divorcing people go through. As the article notes, “Individuals experience four psychological stages during divorce: deliberation, decision, transition, and healing. … [Read more...]
How Collaborative Divorce Can Help Couples Who Are “Stuck”
If you're feeling "stuck" in your marriage (or in your divorce proceedings), collaborative divorce can help you. We ran across an interesting article recently from the folks at the Tennessee Collaborative Divorce Blog about couples who are "stuck" and have come to begrudgingly accept their own "stuck stories." These couples, according to the article, have a narrative in which they're out of sync, unable to communicate, and unable to reconcile their differences. If these couples choose to … [Read more...]
How to Tell Your Spouse You Want a Divorce
Telling your spouse you want a divorce is something you should plan for; here are some tips on how to prepare and what to say. If you have decided that divorcing is the best option for you, your next step should be to tell your spouse of your decision. Although the both of you may have discussed divorce as an abstract idea in the past, saying “I want a divorce” makes the situation real for both of you, and starts you and your spouse down a path that will eventually lead you to a final … [Read more...]
Getting Through a Divorce with Kindness
"Divorce with kindness" might seem like a challenge, but it should be your goal. I recently heard part of a story on NPR in which a grade school teacher talked about her favorite word: Kindness. She commented that she was going to get rid of all of her classroom rules and just post "Be Kind." This made me think about my divorce cases and how different so many of them could be if the lawyers and clients could just focus on that one phrase. Of course, there are situations when that is not a … [Read more...]
Co-Parents: 10 Tips to Keep It Cool When It’s Hot Out
Summer co-parenting can be challenging; when the temperature gets hotter, here's how to stay cool. As the summer heats up, sometimes co-parenting can be emotionally charged for all parties, so it can be easy to let anger get the best of you. While being angry is acceptable and natural and you may have no control over how you perceive the actions of your co-parent, you are most certainly responsible for how you respond. Here is a quick list of suggestions on how to deal with a heated … [Read more...]
