If You Have Children, You Should Get a Trust! For most of us, our children are our most precious “possessions”. At Peace Talks Mediation, we feel the exact same way and we make their well being the focus of our divorce mediation. However, while we may believe that we place our children’s interests as our…
Read More →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 we have to get more creative. Actual vacations involving travel are kind of a special event category and require detailed coordination never mind extraordinary cooperation.…
Read More →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 sounds crazy to admit that we have trouble connecting with each other but that is the reality for a lot of people. This is all…
Read More →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 a clearer picture of your finances under the new tax laws it’s probably not a bad idea to get an overview from your advisors about…
Read More →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 ago the lawyer, Sandy Becher, for the wife spoke about the upcoming divorce in terms of new approach. “What’s next is we’ll take depositions of…
Read More →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 remember reading an article about Gwyneth Paltrow’s “conscious uncoupling” and her decision to use mediation instead of litigation. Where do you turn?? To collaborative divorce…
Read More →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 or divorcing can spike emotions to a whole other level. Especially if you have children, how can you keep the holiday spirit alive in the…
Read More →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 Tom Cruise to a defiant Jack Nicholson. “You Can’t Handle The Truth,” he snorts back. This exchange from the movie A Few Good Men“helps to…
Read More →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 I would save on car payments. You see, I had just made the biggest decision of my professional life. I had decided to become a…
Read More →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 you can pick up on as a mediator that can help you diagnose each situation with just a short interview. This initial diagnosis allows me…
Read More →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 affects your child or children, who may be forced to grow up without their birth father or mother as an active player in their on-going…
Read More →“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 is a lot different than it is as a Mediator. I would know, I am currently a Mediator dedicated exclusively to family law, divorce settlements and…
Read More →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 I think I did it! How to Negotiate Your Divorce Settlement is the excerpt published by Mediate.com. Mediate.com, by the way, is a great place to find…
Read More →*FREE* Online Parenting Calendars Review by Janae Monroe Peace Talks Mediation Services peace-talks.com Juggling soccer practice, violin lessons, tutors, and everything else in between can be extremely difficult to manage for any family, but for divorcing parents it’s all the more challenging. Using programs like these will help give your children a sense of predictability. …
Read More →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 put their children first, sometimes finances and personal needs get in the way. Using interviews, drawings, songs, photos and handwritten rules, Don’t Divorce Me goes…
Read More →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 to change is a tough spot. You might be early on in the process. Or maybe you’re not looking forward to doing battle with your…
Read More →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 deal with your spouse over your divorce. It might seem a whole lot easier to lay down the law and have those around you adhere…
Read More →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. They have all become repeatedly handy with our clients. Before, during and after your divorce, you’re going to have lots of opportunities to test your…
Read More →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. In an ideal situation, each parent will behave with maturity and reason, focusing solely on the needs of the child or children involved and honestly…
Read More →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 is also a “mediator in training” program with significantly reduced fees for couples who can’t afford the sliding scale and who don’t mind working with…
Read More →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 resolved. Some of the steps are a loop, and others may be mixed and matched, but the general continuum, from least confrontational to most confrontational,…
Read More →Mediation Training Reviews: Center for Civic Mediation (live) and Peace Talks Mediation Services DVDs
Read More →Personal Property and Divorce: Family Focused Consignment Offers Solutions Guest Blog By Mark A. Roger Proprietor; Backroom @ WestClay Divorce brings with it upheaval and turmoil; navigating the dissolution of a relationship takes an emotional toll of both parties. The dissolution and assignment of property; and cost of establishing new residences compound the situation. Once…
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