Parent Education in Divorce or Custody Matters

I’m a big advocate for parents improving their knowledge, skills, aptitude to be the best parent they can be. Parent education comes in various forms and numerous methods. Some are much more advanced than others, but it doesn’t hurt to participate in the basic ones. What is Parent Education? Parent education is the training, informing, […]

Divorce Therapy and its Implications

Are you looking for divorce therapy? May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Therapy is something often recommended in divorce, and certainly custody matters. Therapy can take place in many forms and settings, but the focus should be on mental and emotional support. Whether you go to divorce therapy, family therapy, co-parenting therapy or individual therapy […]

Surrender vs. Submission in Divorce Negotiations

In divorce there is often a lot of pressure to settle cases instead of proceeding to trial. Judges, lawyers and even parties persist in attempting to get cases resolved in divorce negotiations.  Approximately 5-10%, of divorce cases make it to trial. (The proportion of custody cases is higher). The remainder of the cases are settled […]

Where Child Support & Joint Custody Intersect

Child support and child custody intercepts at times, but that depends on several factors. In most states Child support is determined by statutory guidelines imposed by that state. Those guidelines usually takes into consideration parents’ income (either one or both), number of children, previous financial orders and some excepted expenses (like employment deductions). Some states […]

Hidden Assets in Divorce: Is it Worth It

It is not unheard of to discover that parties in a divorce lied about some important things.  Divorce brings out the worse in even the most decent human beings. It’s almost as if the moment divorce discussions start, that the parties anticipate games of deception, defamation and trickery to ensue. Wives accuse husbands of hiding […]

Child Custody & Abandonment

In child custody & abandonment situations (and child support too) biological parents can have their rights terminated by court. Even though the right to being a parent in the USA is a fundamental one , pursuant to the Fourteenth Amendment, states have the power to infringe on those rights. Of course Due Process, also afforded […]

“Good” and “Not so Good” Co-parenting is Still Coparenting

Co-parenting can go as smoothly as the parties allow it to.  It doesn’t have to be complicated or have a lot of conflict. However, it does not mean that when parties disagree on issues that it is unsuccessful.  Co-parenting simply means that parents communicate effectively and collaborate on important decisions regarding their child(ren).  Disagreements, confusion, […]

Grandparents Rights to Visitation & Custody

Since 2000, grandparents’ rights to visitation and/or custody has been ruled “unconstitutional” in many states.  This landmark case (Troxel v. Granville) established that state laws that mandated grandparents rights to visitation & custody violated parents’ rights to due process.  As a result, although most states have some laws on the books granting grandparents rights, some […]

Long-Distance Co-Parenting

Co-parenting can be challenging when both parents live within the same state or certain distance of each other. However, during long-distance co-parenting, it can complicate things ever more so. Particularly when the parties have joint custody, mainly joint legal, it can cause major problems with enforcement. Co-parenting Agreements or parenting plans for long-distance parents usually […]

When Legal Separation is the Better Route

Although most states have some form of “no-fault” as grounds, there are still instances where a legal separation is the best route to go when heading towards divorce. “No-fault” means that the parties do not need a “reason” to divorce, they can just allege irreconcilable differences (or some variation of) and that suffices. This negates […]