Recent Blog Posts
What Happens If You Get Divorced Without a Lawyer?
No one likes the idea of standing on the opposite side of a courtroom with your spouse, each flanked by your lawyers, when you once stood at the altar together and exchanged wedding vows. Even if you and your spouse have reached the decision that you cannot stay married to each other, it is… Read More »
Can Adults With Disabilities Get Child Support From Their Families?
Under most circumstances, child support obligations end when the child has both turned 18 and graduated from high school. Of course, children who become financially independent of their parents immediately upon graduating from high school are a rare exception to the rule. Most adults in their 20s and 30s depend on their parents financially… Read More »
Giving Adequate Notice for Family Court Proceedings
Depending on your perspective, it is either humiliating or a relief that, when you are going through a divorce or when you and your former spouse have minor children together, you can ask the court to intervene to decide which one of you is being reasonable and which one is causing unnecessary drama. Unfortunately,… Read More »
Parental Alienation or Garden Variety Teenage Rebellion?
No matter how patient you are with your children, how consistent in your enforcement of rules, and how emotionally intelligent you are, you will probably experience conflict with your children during their adolescence. This is true even if you are married to your children’s other parent, and you and your spouse have been practicing… Read More »
Parenting Time Is Only for a Child’s Legal Parents
Providing stability and continuity for children after their parents get divorced is one of the highest priorities for the family courts. This is why every couple who gets divorced while their children are minors gets a court-ordered parenting plan; in most cases, the parents set the terms of the parenting plan during mediation, but… Read More »
Adventures in Filial Piety
If you are mature enough to get married, you know that your in-laws are not going to vanish into thin air, no matter how much you wish that you could have your spouse all to yourself. Some adults maintain close financial ties to their parents even after they reach adulthood, and their spouses know… Read More »
Calculating Child Support When Everything Is in Flux
Even the most organized people find the chaos of a pending divorce overwhelming. You are trying to pay the bills for an entire family on one income. You are trying to build a relationship with your new partner’s parents, when, for the time being, your estranged spouse’s parents are still your in-laws. Perhaps you… Read More »
Here Comes Divorce Monday
When you talk to a friend who has recently filed for divorce, you might be surprised that your friend’s tone of voice and body language show relief more than distress. Most likely, your friend agonized over the decision to file for divorce and felt stuck for a long time. Even in uncomplicated cases, divorce… Read More »
Should You Embrace Parallel Parenting Even If the Court Does Not Order It?
It is easy for jealousy, suspicions, and perceived slights to drive you crazy, particularly regarding your relationship with your ex-spouse who broke your heart. Before you fly off the handle at your ex about every little thing, though, you would do well to remember the words of Abdullah ibn al-Muqaffa`, a government official who… Read More »
Where Is the Column for “Adultery” on the Financial Disclosure Forms in Divorce?
If one spouse had an extramarital affair, both spouses will probably think of the affair as the main reason for the divorce, even years later. The divorce court does not usually see it that way, though. The divorce court is only interested in dividing marital assets and debts in the fairest possible way. If… Read More »
