A Mom in Durham, NC recently lost custody of her children because she was diagnosed with breast cancer. In an extremely sad case, and yet another shining example of why collaborative law is such a promising tool for resolving family law conflicts, Alaina Giordano has lost custody of her two children because of a terminal…
Category Archives: Collaborative Divorce
Tips to make your divorce easier
Last week the Raleigh News and Observer ran a story entitled “4 tips to make your divorce easier for your divorce attorney and yourself.” Those tips included telling your lawyer the truth, get help from a therapist if you need it, listen to your attorney’s advice, and organize your documents before you give them to…
Bankruptcy and Divorce – Thoughts to Consider
It’s no secret that one of the biggest things that couples fight about is money. And in these tough economic times, it doesn’t take a whole lot to push a couple over the edge… from a financial standpoint. In certain situations, bankruptcy may be a viable option for you. If you are considering filing for…
Collaborative Divorce is catching on…
For those of you who are still all “doom and gloom” on collaborative divorce, here is yet another article talking about the benefits of the process. If you are thinking about a divorce or separation, you should start considering a collaborative divorce, especially if you have children…
Divorce and kids around the holidays… Ugh…
The Holidays are hard enough for those of us that aren’t divorced. Figuring out which relatives you are going to see when, packing the car, getting the dogs to the kennel, coordinating the cat sitter, driving across the country to visit family…. and the list goes on and on. And I’m not divorced. It’s enough…
Spouse left with the kids and the money – what can I do?
This is an all-to-common question, and although I have answered it several times in my “Ask a Lawyer” section, I thought I would answer it again here. The answer to this question depends, unfortunately, on the financial circumstances of the person asking it. If you have a good job, the money issue may not be…
5 Raleigh Divorce Lawyers join Separating Together
I guess these things aren’t quite official until there is a press release about it. Just announced – myself and four other Raleigh Divorce Lawyers have joined Separating Together, a Collaborative Family Law Practice Group in Raleigh, North Carolina. All of us have pledged to restrict our law practices to resolving family law matters without…
Getting a divorce in North Carolina: Some Pitfalls
North Carolina has some wacky laws when it comes to divorce. They are not always intuitive, and sometimes they are downright unfair. One such example is a rule called the “McClean Presumption“. This rule deals with Equitable distribution in North Carolina, and the treatment of marital and separate real property (also known as land) and…
Questions about a Collaborative Divorce Practice
In response to my most recent blog post, I’ve received some questions about what taking my family law practice 100% Collaborative means for the remainder of my practice… Here are some of the questions I’ve received and my responses: Does this mean that you’ll only do collaborative divorces? Actually, No. It only means that I…
I’m all in with Collaborative Divorce
Yesterday I conducted a collaborative divorce conference at the Separating Together offices in Raleigh. What began as an extremely emotional, divisive, and potentially explosive divorce, is now beginning to steer its way towards final resolution. This would have been one of those cases where a typical litigation attorney would have proclaimed loudly, “collaborative divorce will…