For some people, one of the hardest parts of divorce is telling your spouse that the marriage is over. I get people asking me about this all the time – how should they do it, when should they do it, is there a better and worse way to do this… Unfortunately, this is just one…
Category Archives: Collaborative Law
Mom with Breast Cancer loses Custody of kids
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…
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…
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…
Why Collaborative Divorce Works
One of my biggest pet-peeves is when another lawyer tells me that Collaborative Divorce won’t work. Don’t tell that to Cat J. Zavis. Cat presented a seminar that I attended this past week on how Non-Violent Communication can help resolve Family Law Cases, including Collaborative Divorces. The seminar was organized by Mark Springfield, a fellow…
How does Collaborative Divorce work?
Many people still don’t understand exactly how collaborative divorce works – here is a brief rundown of the process. Both parties start by selecting a collaborative lawyer to assist them in their case. This is probably the most important step, and one that many people fail to get past. The key here is that both…
Collaborative Divorce is great for the kids
I came across a great article today that illustrates just why collaborative divorce can be such a great thing for the children of divorce. The article profiles a family from Rochester, New York that is going through a collaborative divorce with children – successfully. On anther note – I was forced to go to court…