If you don’t want to have a trial in your court case, you have to settle your case first. In a divorce or custody context, settlement is achieved when there is a signed agreement negotiated between the parties. In a divorce case, you would sign and negotiate a separation agreement – a legal contract that...
Can I draft my own custody agreement?
Custody cases are interesting because they can come up in a number of ways, unlike divorce. In a divorce, you have essentially two options: (1) negotiate a signed separation agreement, or (2) litigate in court. Divorce Cases Where Custody is an Issue Divorce is filed in the circuit court. Custody, though, can present differently. Custody...
It is incredibly difficult to go through a separation and/or divorce (or even a breakup, if you and your child’s father never married) when you have children in common. Going from ‘you’ time and ‘me’ time to ‘your’ time and ‘our’ time is a huge change. There’s not enough said about navigating those complicated and...
I’m biased. I’m a lawyer. I earn my living handling family law cases on behalf of the women who become my clients. Also, because I am a lawyer I also (1) see the people who can’t resolve things on their own (and very few of the people who can), and (2) deal, essentially, in worst-case...
Making the decision to hire a divorce attorney is a difficult one. Once you’ve reached the already difficult decision to separate and, eventually, to end your marriage, you have to decide whether or not you’ll hire an attorney to represent you in the divorce and then, if so, whom. I probably don’t need to tell...
Sometimes, the most frustrating things about coparenting aren’t even necessarily the legal issues. Sure, the legal issues themselves can be difficult to resolve but, for many families, once that initial hurdle is crossed, things settle down a bit. That doesn’t mean that all is well and everything is harmonious. In fact, in many cases –...
Separation isn’t always the road to divorce. For some couples, probably for more couples than I even realize (because, let’s be honest, I have an unbalanced sampling), separation ultimately leads not to divorce but to reconciliation. That’s as it should be. I believe that women who want a divorce should be able to get one,...
I’ve said it before; I really like a right of first refusal. But that doesn’t mean that issues can’t arise when you implement a right of first refusal provision in your separation agreement or court order! All KINDS of issues can come up in family law cases and, I am sorry to say, to the...