Financial Steps to Take When You Are Divorcing

By Admin Admin | September 12, 2023
Woman sitting at table managing finances

Divorce can be financially challenging, but you can navigate it smoothly with the right steps, especially through mediation. At Peace Talks, we specialize in helping couples achieve amicable divorces, including…

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Tips On How To Save for Retirement After Divorce

By Admin Admin | March 17, 2022
Retirement written on a paved road.

When you find yourself on the divorce road, you know in your gut that everything you hold dear will change. You will find yourself with a different financial portfolio, often…

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How to Keep Conflict Low During a Divorce

By Admin Admin | January 12, 2022
Woman and man standing back to back

While going through a divorce can be one of life’s most stressful events, that stress can be reduced by keeping the conflict low.  The first step in keeping conflict low…

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Professional Roles in Collaborative Mediation: Lawyers

By nickeyh | September 6, 2021
Lawyer sitting at desk.

You and your spouse have decided to separate, and you are looking for an amicable split.  What is the best approach? Collaborative Divorce is an alternative option to litigation that…

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The Stages of Grief During Divorce

By Admin Admin | August 12, 2021
Man sitting and thinking.

When going through a divorce, your emotions can feel like a never-ending grief rollercoaster and the ups and downs of this emotional journey can be hard to understand.  What you…

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What to Ask the Mediator

By peacetalkadmin | October 16, 2019

Divorce mediators can make or break a divorce agreement. In order work with an effective divorce facilitator, you and your soon-to-be-ex need to vet them by asking a series of…

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Why You Should Hire a Divorce Mediator

By peacetalkadmin | September 11, 2019

Life is full of twist and turns! Often, we don’t know what road we should go down. The “divorce” road is filled with enormous potholes that wreak havoc on custody,…

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Protect Your Children: Get a Will!

By peacetalkadmin | March 20, 2019

While many of us may believe that estate planning is only for the rich or the elderly, you should know that this process is essential if you have children. At…

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Divorce Mediation Primer

By Stephanie | January 29, 2019

I came across a nice synopsis of why mediation for your divorce may be the smartest choice. It is safe to say that most couples facing divorce expect the experience…

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Less Painful Divorces

By Stephanie | January 21, 2019

With just less than half of married partners ending in divorce, therapists over time have developed some suggestions for making the process possibly less painful for everyone. You will see…

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Divorce Mediation Means Talking

By Stephanie | January 21, 2019

In getting to a mutually agreeable divorce settlement we make progress, literally, by getting couples to communicate with each other. Many couples find it difficult to communicate. Our therapist mediator will…

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Should We Try Mediation?

By Stephanie | December 28, 2018

The following was excerpted from an article in the Boston Herald by Wendy Hickey Should We Try Mediation? The answer is yes for most people. The majority of couples we see…

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Mediator Tips On Divorce Difficulties

By Stephanie | December 13, 2018

There are a lot of commonalities with divorce and lessons from shared experiences can be extremely helpful when going through extremely stressful situations like divorce negotiations. Some great suggestions were…

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Divorce Mediation Misconceptions

By Stephanie | December 8, 2018

I came across an article in Divorce Magazine by Susan E. Guthrie that echoed familiar misconceptions that we come across at PeaceTalks, as do many of our colleagues. Here are a…

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What to Ask the Mediator

By Stephanie | November 9, 2018

For people screening referrals they have received to mediation services some questions are best dealt with at the very beginning of the process. Even couples that may have already made…

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Common Questions About Divorce

By Stephanie | October 4, 2018

Here are a few of the questions that come up most often when people are their evaluating their options in relation to the divorce process. If you have some questions…

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Divorce and the 2018 Tax Law Change Snapshot

By Stephanie | August 13, 2018

I came across this exchange with Jim Tankersley who covers economic and tax policy for The New York Times and Ailsa Chang from NPR. Jim gives a nice summary of the…

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Temporary “Phonelessness” Is OK

By Stephanie | April 10, 2018

by Stephanie Maloney Co-parenting is tough enough without having to wonder if you’re one text away from that phone call from the Highway Patrol. Nobody wants to be the cop…

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The Small Outdoors

By Stephanie | April 3, 2018

by Stephanie Maloney Here it is again that time to start getting out and planning out some “away from the house” time. It seems to get tougher each year so…

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Unplugging To Connect

By Stephanie | March 30, 2018

by Stephanie Maloney Every family that I interact with has difficulty creating and managing their time together. By definition, Divorce creates two entities from one source. With our technology, it…

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Spring Cleaning

By Stephanie | March 20, 2018

by Stephanie Maloney As we finally are getting some much-needed rain I keep thinking about things, besides the social and political black holes, that are ripe for clean up. With…

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Crypto-Scams, or, Old Wolf New Online Sheepskin

By Stephanie | March 12, 2018

by Stephanie Maloney Every year around “Tax Time” consumers, across the board, get hit with opportunities to “turn that refund into a lot of money” and this year some of…

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Divorce Resource

By Stephanie | March 1, 2018

by Stephanie Maloney The more I read about how little time people have for things they’d like to do the question remains about how to make time for things they…

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Winter Olympics – Teaming Up

By Stephanie | February 19, 2018

by Stephanie Maloney Even if you don’t have “Olympic Fever” there are always some great moments worth watching.  Because I skated competitively growing up in Minnesota I’m reminded how important teamwork is to even…

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Don’t Overtax Yourself & Do It Now

By Stephanie | February 13, 2018

by Stephanie Maloney The new tax legislation will necessitate adjustments for many people dealing with alimony payments-both paying and receiving. When you start to factor in things like tuition and…

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If Wall Street Is Your Street

By Stephanie | February 10, 2018

by Stephanie Maloney If individual stocks or mutual funds are associated with your divorce, whether by mediation or litigation, don’t panic because of the recent market volatility. When people “inherit”…

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Mediation in the News: The Williams Divorce

By peacetalkadmin | September 13, 2017

Back in June there was a news story about Richard Williams, the father of Venus & Serena, seeking to evict his estranged wife from their Florida home. A few days…

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Mediating The Settlement To Qualify For The Loan

By peacetalkadmin | August 28, 2017

As difficult as the divorce process can be there are many subtle financial hurdles that can prove problematic even for an amicable agreement. What happens after the settlement is reached may…

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Collaborative Divorce Mediation: Is it the Right Choice for You?

By peacetalkadmin | October 27, 2016

Divorce scenarios are typically stereotyped as long, drawn-out court battles over children and property. If you’re entering divorce proceedings for the first time, you should know there are other options…

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Divorce Mediation vs. Traditional Divorce

By peacetalkadmin | October 27, 2016

No divorce process is completely stress free, but if you choose mediation to settle your divorce case, you could save on time, stress, and money. While divorce mediation is not…

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Collaborative Divorce The Best Way To Divorce In California

By peacetalkadmin | April 10, 2016

You have decided your marriage is not working out. You want to divorce, but your friends have told you horror stories about dragging your divorce through the court system. You…

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Divorced or Divorcing – How to have Happy Jolly Holidays!!

By peacetalkadmin | December 2, 2015

At Peace Talks, we know that the divorce process is stressful and creates emotional turmoil. And we also know that experiencing the winter holidays for the first time as divorced…

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Writing Effective Emails during Divorce – The BIFF Method

By peacetalkadmin | August 12, 2015

During the period of a peaceful divorce and emotional confusion, we sometimes say and write things to our partners that are offensive and inappropriate. Instead of clearly communicating our thoughts…

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What is a Legal Separation?

By peacetalkadmin | August 12, 2015

In California, there are three ways to end a marriage: divorce, legal separation, and annulment. At Peace Talks we want you to know your options and we will focus on…

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How does Team Mediation Work & Why is It So Effective?

By peacetalkadmin | August 12, 2015

Congratulations! You are considering mediation as the process for resolving your divorce. In contrast to litigation, mediation is the sane, efficient and cost effective way to work through your potentially…

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California’s Cooling OFF Period

By peacetalkadmin | August 12, 2015

While California may be a “hot” state, we experience “cooling off” periods too. In a family law context, this “cooling off” specifically applies to the amount of time that must…

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5 Reasons to Keep Your Divorce Out of Social Media

By peacetalkadmin | August 12, 2015

Today, communication is instantaneous. Like the phrase, “a shot heard around the world”, an online post is sent into the media stratosphere with the potential to surface anywhere, be read…

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Divorce Continuum

By peacetalkadmin | October 8, 2013

Divorce Resolution Continuum By Diana Mercer, Attorney-Mediator, copyright 2003 The decision to divorce is followed by a number of choices for how a case might be filed and later resolved.…

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Divorce Threats: I’ll See You in Court!

By peacetalkadmin | July 26, 2013

There’s often a lot of grandstanding in divorce court proceedings. A lot of people say, “I’ll see you in court!” not knowing exactly what that means.  In the moment, they don’t…

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What Causes Divorce?

By peacetalkadmin | July 26, 2013

Causes of Divorce  “Seriously?  You want to end this?  You want a divorce?  I mean, I know we’ve had problems.  I’ve tried to change.  I’ll be better.  Is this really…

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Cost of Divorce: Cost of Staying Together

By peacetalkadmin | July 26, 2013

Putting a price on sanity? There have been so many articles on people who aren’t getting divorced because they “can’t afford it” that it’s making me a little alarmed. The…

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California Divorce

By peacetalkadmin | July 26, 2013

Divorce in California Divorce law varies state-to-state, and California has the distinction of being one of 9 states that have enacted a Community Property law. As a divorce lawyer in…

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Setting Clear Boundaries in Divorce

By peacetalkadmin | July 26, 2013

Setting Clear Boundaries Often, your marital or domestic situation does not meet the level of serious violence where you have to flee, but you are subject to consistent intimidation or…

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Mediation is the New and Improved Litigation

By peacetalkadmin | July 26, 2013

Well, there’s really no improvements on divorce and custody litigation. But mediation is definitely a better way to go.  Less costly, faster, confidential, on your schedule, tailored to your needs….the…

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Creating a Good Divorce

By peacetalkadmin | July 26, 2013

I know it’s an oxymoron:  nobody wants a divorce, so how could one be good? But when you’re faced with divorce, you have lots of opportunties to make it less…

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Is Divorce Failure?

By peacetalkadmin | July 26, 2013

Family Mediation and Failure Many clients have told me that they viewed getting divorced as a their greatest failure as an adult.  Even their body language told me they weren’t…

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Divorce: Kids and Custody

By peacetalkadmin | July 26, 2013

Kids and Custody Do you remember being a kid?  At my age it’s a little blurry, but I can tell you that adults often misunderstand how kids behave and think. …

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Low Cost Divorce

By peacetalkadmin | July 26, 2013

In response to the recession, Peace Talks now offers a couple of new services. I hope you’ll keep us in mind if you come across couples needing either of the…

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Cause of Divorce

By peacetalkadmin | July 26, 2013

What Causes Divorce? When thinking about how marriages end, people often look towards distinct events like affairs or money-related problems.  What we’ve found in our 20+ years of experience is…

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Los Angeles Superior Court Update: Budget Cuts

By peacetalkadmin | July 26, 2013

I went to a meeting today with the Honorable Thomas Trent Lewis at the Los Angeles Superior Court. He wanted to update the family law bar, forensic accountants, and custody…

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Creating a Good Divorce

By peacetalkadmin | July 26, 2013

I know. It’s an oxymoron–nobody wants a divorce to begin with, so how could a divorce be good?  There are a lot of ways to make the best of the…

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Uncontested Divorce: California Guide

By peacetalkadmin | July 26, 2013

You Want an Uncontested Divorce….but how do you get there? The concept of divorce mediation is relatively new, but recently it has been getting a lot more attention.  Especially in…

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Parental Alientation and Divorce Mediation

By peacetalkadmin | July 26, 2013

I get asked a lot about Child Custody.  It’s not surprising, since a parent’s love for their children is bigger than any financial settlement.  Oftentimes, a parent feels that getting…

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Mediate Family Law, Don’t Litigate!

By peacetalkadmin | July 26, 2013

Here at Peace Talks, we love Mediation.  If you’ve spent any time looking through our site and blog posts, you know that already.  It’s an easy sell, because, to us,…

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Divorce Lies, Mediation Truths

By peacetalkadmin | July 26, 2013

Truth is a beloved institution.  It’s the cornerstone of our legal system. “The Truth of the Matter.”  “The Whole Truth, and Nothing But the Truth.”  “I Want the Truth,” says…

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Family Law Mediation Success

By peacetalkadmin | July 26, 2013

Eleven years ago, I traded in my fancy shmancy car for a used Honda Accord.  It wasn’t just a symbolic act; I knew I was going to need the money…

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Divorce Mediation and Domestic Violence

By peacetalkadmin | July 26, 2013

As a divorce lawyer and mediator here in Los Angeles, California, I get the opportunity to see a lot of clients with varied backgrounds and personalities.  There are common threads…

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Child Custody Mediation and Contested Custody

By peacetalkadmin | July 26, 2013

Choosing whether to proceed in court with a custody dispute is serious business.  It affects your spouse, who you may be trying to deny custody altogether, but most especially, it…

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Divorce Strategy and Divorce Mediation

By peacetalkadmin | July 26, 2013

  “Before anything else, preparation is the key to success.” That’s a quote attributed to Alexander Graham Bell and couldn’t be more true today.  As a divorce attorney, you’re preparation…

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Divorce Mediation: Mediator Styles

By peacetalkadmin | July 26, 2013

I have a 25 hour beginning family law mediation course on DVD which I sell on my web site and Amazon.com. As a result, I get questions about how to…

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Negotiate Your Divorce Settlement

By peacetalkadmin | July 26, 2013

This is an excerpt from Making Divorce Work.  I’m really proud of this chapter….it was difficult to explain in a few pages how to successfully negotiate a divorce settlement.  But…

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Review: HBO’s “Don’t Divorce Me”

By peacetalkadmin | July 26, 2013

REVIEW: HBO’s DON’T DIVORCE ME   Review by Janae Monroe   Peace Talks Mediation Services   peace-talks.com Divorce is difficult for everyone involved, especially the children. While parents intend to…

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Divorce That Works

By peacetalkadmin | July 26, 2013

  If you’re reading this, you’re probably not in such a good place right now.  However it happens, realizing that your marriage doesn’t make you happy and that something has…

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8 Keys to Resolving Divorce Conflict

By peacetalkadmin | July 26, 2013

  You never thought it would happen to you, yet here you are faced with divorce. Maybe you asked for the divorce. Maybe you’re the one who is being left. …

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Resolving Divorce Conflict – Be Hard on the Problem, Not the People

By peacetalkadmin | July 26, 2013

A Closer Look at Resolving Divorce Conflict Key 1: Be hard on the problem, not the people. We made this the first conflict resolution skill because it’s likely the first…

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Resolving Divorce Conflict – Listening Is Not Obeying

By peacetalkadmin | July 26, 2013

A Closer Look at Resolving Divorce Conflict  Key 2: Understand that Acknowledging and Listening are NOT the same as Obeying   You may be tempted to issue decrees as you…

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Resolving Divorce Conflict – Key 3: Use I-Statements

By peacetalkadmin | July 26, 2013

A Closer Look at Resolving Divorce Conflict Key 3: Use I-Statements When you’ve spent the better part of your working life mediating and finding peaceful resolutions to conflicts, you begin…

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Resolving Divorce Conflict – Giving the Benefit of the Doubt & Having Awkward Conversations

By peacetalkadmin | July 26, 2013

A Closer Look at Resolving Divorce Conflict Key 4: Give the Benefit of the Doubt. It’s hard to say which of these keys to resolving conflict we like the most.…

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The Best Way to Start Your Divorce – A Divorce Mission Statement

By peacetalkadmin | July 26, 2013

A Divorce Mission Statement Have you thought about how you want your divorce to go?  What’s your ideal resolution?  Do you see a clear winner or loser?  Divorce is one…

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Divorce Wisdom: A Thank You Note to my Former Husband

By peacetalkadmin | July 26, 2013

Divorce Wisdom: A Thank You Note to my Former Husband   While it’s tempting to just remember the bad parts of your marriage, especially when you’re in the middle of…

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Why Your Kids Will Thank You for Mediating Your Divorce

By peacetalkadmin | July 26, 2013

Why Your Kids will Thank you for Mediating By Alan Brady, guest blogger   Finding a way to share custody of childrenafter a divorce can be an incredibly difficult task.…

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Low Cost Mediation Services

By peacetalkadmin | July 26, 2013

Low Cost  Mediation Services Peace Talks Mediation Services offers a sliding scale for couples who earn less than $100,000 (total) and who have less than $200,000 in net assets.  There…

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Choose How Confrontational Your Divorce Will Be

By peacetalkadmin | July 26, 2013

Divorce Resolution Continuum By Diana Mercer, Attorney-Mediator, copyright 2013   The decision to divorce is followed by a number of choices for how a case might be filed and later…

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Mediation Training Reviews: Center for Civic Mediation & Peace Talks Mediation

By peacetalkadmin | July 26, 2013

Mediation Training Reviews: Center for Civic Mediation (live) and Peace Talks Mediation Services DVDs

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