Starting Over Financially After Divorce

By Admin Admin | June 11, 2024
Man calculating bills

Divorce is one of the most challenging life transitions, especially concerning finances. But it doesn’t have to be a bitter, drawn-out battle as often seen in court-litigated divorces. Collaborative mediation offers a more amicable and constructive way to start your new chapter while creating tailored asset division plans. When dividing assets and debts, a collaborative…

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Tips for Creating a Parenting Plan for Summer

By Admin Admin | May 7, 2024
Woman creating a parenting plan

Coordinating summer activities can be challenging when you share custody of your children with your ex-spouse, especially when there are a lot of events involved. There will always be schedule changes throughout your post-divorce life, but planning ahead can help minimize them. Here are several tips we can share with you to help with your…

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Divorce: Should You Keep the House or Divide All Assets

By Admin Admin | April 9, 2024
Post it notes with asset allocation, cash, real estate, stocks, bonds

When you are experiencing the bumpy journey of divorce, there are a lot of questions and concerns, and more often than not, they are overwhelming. And there’s no right or wrong way to forge a path forward, especially regarding the financial division of assets, including the family home. The key elements in collaborative divorce or…

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What Do You Tell Your Kids About Your Divorce?

By Admin Admin | February 6, 2024
Mother talking to daughter

When we speak with parents who are divorcing and have children, we often help them draft a conversation to share with their children to meet their needs and age level. Here are some other thoughts to keep in mind: Collaborative divorce mediation encourages parents to work together to decide the best way to share the…

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How is Child Support Calculated?

By Admin Admin | January 9, 2024
Paper with child support payments on it with money

Understanding how child support is calculated can help divorcing couples make informed decisions, fostering a smoother process. In an amicable divorce or mediation, transparency and cooperation are key. This allows couples to address child support with empathy and efficiency and meet unique needs while keeping the child in the forefront. Both parents’ incomes play a…

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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 handling their finances sensibly. Here’s a guide to financial steps to take when you are divorcing: Achieving an amicable divorce while managing your finances sensibly…

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Coping with Emotional Stress During Divorce

By Admin Admin | July 12, 2023

It’s essential to prioritize self-care and find healthy ways to cope with the stress that comes with divorce. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, here are some practical strategies that can help you navigate the emotional rollercoaster of divorce: Consider opting for a collaborative divorce process or mediation instead of traditional litigation. Collaborative divorce involves mental health…

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Understanding Spousal Support in California

By Admin Admin | September 14, 2022
Dice stacked on top of one another spelling support.

One of the questions that often arise during the divorce process is how spousal support will be handled and how it will affect the post-divorce financial landscape. When a couple decides to utilize the collaborative divorce process and avoid court litigation, they will have access to a team of experts such as a financial neutral,…

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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 shared with your ex. Time and again our clients will share their concerns with our financial mediators about how the divorce will impact them financially…

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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 is practicing self-care during this challenging time. Treating yourself with kindness, compassion, and sensitivity is essential. We want to make decisions for ourselves, and our…

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Will I Lose My House During My Divorce?

By Admin Admin | January 12, 2022
Picture of home.

It’s completely understandable to have a million questions swirling around in your head – divorce can be a lonely and grueling space to live in and sometimes you may feel unsure about everything.  However, when you choose the collaborative law process, there is a team of experts willing to help you and your spouse navigate…

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Things Parents Should Consider When Divorcing

By Admin Admin | September 8, 2021
Little girl holding mom and dads hand walking down the sidewalk.

When you and your spouse decide it is time to start the divorce process, there are many things to think about and add to your to-do list.  And when the marriage involves children, the stress really increases and it can feel very overwhelming. Children can change the entire dynamic for divorcing couples. Instead of focusing…

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Professional Roles in Collaborative Mediation: Lawyers

By Stephanie | 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 provides more professional support to each individual during the divorce process.  Each party agrees to stay out of court, and retains their own lawyer, divorce…

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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 may not know is the grieving process during a divorce is like the grief experienced when someone passes away.  Here are the five stages of…

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Tax Filing Status: How will it change with divorce?

By peacetalkadmin | July 1, 2020
Tax Filing Status: How will it change with divorce? - Peace Talks Mediation Services - taxes, tax filing, divorce, collaborative divorce, finances - Photo by Olga DeLawrence on Unsplash

When you and your spouse decide to utilize a collaborative divorce approach, both of you will have access to neutral financial mediators. Financial mediators can help prepare schedules that project cash flows, net worth, and the tax effects of your proposed settlements. They are often asked these 3 tax questions: How should I file my…

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Creating a Financial Plan for Temporary Finances While Going through the Coronavirus

By peacetalkadmin | May 6, 2020

The novel coronavirus has not only sickened many, but it has also cut off our various income streams, and our financial security is at risk. And if you find yourself in the middle of the divorce process, you may feel like you are drowning in this storm and all hope is lost for financial recovery,…

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Can the Coronavirus Affect Child Custody?

By peacetalkadmin | April 15, 2020

While we battle the COVID-19 virus, even though it seems the world has stopped, there are still many other high stressors at play, such as families who are trying to balance out custody concerns. Many states have a stay-at-home order, and because of safety issues of contracting the virus, parental custody arrangements may need to…

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Helping You Divorce During the Coronavirus

By peacetalkadmin | March 18, 2020

Going through a divorce can be difficult enough, but adding the Coronavirus to the mix can make it more challenging. Peace-Talks Mediation Services is here to help you through this difficult time. We are currently open and providing services in our office. While we are aware of the social distancing currently going on today, we…

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How a Co-Parenting Plan Can Help You

By peacetalkadmin | March 11, 2020

Divorce can be extremely emotionally draining on the spouses, but more often than not, the toll it takes on the children in the family is often overlooked. But did you know your children’s emotional well-being is a key factor when you and your spouse seek a divorce thru the collaborative divorce process? During the collaborative…

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Creating a New You After Divorce

By peacetalkadmin | February 19, 2020

“Out with the old, in with the new” is a famous quote that refers to a person making personal changes in their life. After a divorce, many people struggle to find their “new you”. How does someone go about creating a new you? This is where a magic wand would come in handy, right? First…

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Starting a New Year After Divorce

By peacetalkadmin | December 23, 2019

As 2019 wound down, and your divorce was finalized, you may find yourself asking many questions, some of which may be: How can I make the most of 2020 as a new divorcee? How do I grow my relationship with my children? What is the best way to continue growing my communications with my ex?…

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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 questions to determine if they can help meet both of your needs without going to court and draft a settlement that will be agreeable to…

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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, property, financial and emotional agreements. It’s hard to know how to avoid these potholes. One of the things that can help keep you on the…

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Getting A Trust For The Sake of the Kids

By peacetalkadmin | April 10, 2019

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…

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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 Peace Talks Mediation, not only do we help you with divorce mediation, but we also recommend how you can protect your most precious “possessions” your…

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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 to be agonizing as well as exhausting. Ending a marriage, and the ensuing divorce, is one of the most emotional events of a lifetime. Since…

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Amazon Fairness and Divorce, Oh My!

By Stephanie | January 21, 2019

For anyone who can’t let go of that “Money=Happiness” thing, just read and be kind of glad that you don’t have so much money that God borrows from you. The divorce fairness issue that Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos don’t have to worry about https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/11/opinions/divorce-unfair-bezos-opinion-cohen/index.html

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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 from these suggestions why PeaceTalks always makes sure a therapist is available for both parties for every session. You can see a thread with these…

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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 provide tools to better communication and can also facilitate a “difficult conversation.”Communication is an interactive process, and text messages can be a great way to stay…

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Amazon Fairness and Divorce, Oh My!

By Stephanie | January 17, 2019

For anyone who can’t let go of that “Money=Happiness” thing, just read and be kind of glad that you don’t have so much money that God borrows from you. The divorce fairness issue that Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos don’t have to worry about https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/11/opinions/divorce-unfair-bezos-opinion-cohen/index.html

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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 at PeaceTalks have enough common goals to negotiate an amicable and equitable settlement agreement.  Since most people will listen to a neutral third-party guide in…

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More Divorce Mediator Tips

By Stephanie | December 18, 2018

Here’s a couple more tips from the article I saw by Oren Kaufmann on the Mediate.com website. Don’t be penny wise and pound-foolish. Imagine the following not so unusual scenario. You have resolved all the tough issues and for some reason these one or two remain “as a matter of principle“. It makes no sense financially…

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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 offered by a mediation expert named Oran Kaufman in a series of articles for Mediate.com and I wanted to pass along these very cogent, and…

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A Potential Tax Move For 2018 Divorce

By Stephanie | December 10, 2018

As the commercial says “I’m not a tax advisor and I didn’t stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night…” but a piece by Dan Caplinger from The Motley Fool might have a useful idea for your situation. There’s a link at the end to the whole article. Tax strategies is something that PeaceTalks always has…

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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 few highlights and I’ve provided a link to the entire article, which makes some excellent points: Almost any divorce case, or really any family law matter,…

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Celebrity Divorces and Mediation

By Stephanie | November 20, 2018

I came across an article by Jill Stanley, who covers celebrity legal stories, as to why some celebrities choose mediation for their divorce process. Using some couples from Malibu as a general backdrop she covers a few of these reasons that really can apply to any amicable couple looking to avoid costly litigation. PeaceTalks has handled agreements for celebrities…

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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 a choice often benefit from getting some issues settled before the start of actual preparation and negotiation. Is the first consultation free? PeaceTalks does not…

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Divorce Lawyer Secrets

By Stephanie | October 18, 2018

Peace Talks, by definition, gives people the opportunity to talk about everything that is relevant to reaching an amicable agreement. This applies, as well, to all the legal advisors that come to our mediation table. We get to listen to the perspective of the lawyer in many different types of divorce situations representing a wide range of…

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Divorce – Ready or Not?

By Stephanie | October 10, 2018

Recently, I’ve been encountering a lot of feedback related to people “rushing” to a divorce, before being informed, as to what needs to be done ahead of time. Here are some of the recurring themes that many therapists and advisors caution about when facing this decision. At Peace Talks we offer discernment counseling to help you…

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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 about your own situation please contact the office anytime. How can I avoid going to court? If you use a mediation service the court will…

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Divorce Does Not Equal Failure

By Stephanie | September 26, 2018

Divorce isn’t a failure, therapists say. In fact, it could mean the marriage was a success. The overwhelming feeling of failureis almost impossible to avoid when divorce becomes a reality. We see this even in mediation where both parties are in agreement and it is, of course, worse for those in long litigations. The difficulties…

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Mediation vs. Arbitration

By Stephanie | September 21, 2018

These two terms are being tossed around a lot as people prepare to meet the December 31st deadline for divorce related paperwork and try to avoid going to court. I’ve left a link to an article by Armita Azad from Mediate.com that gives a clear, concise look at the differences between the two from the…

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Family Disputes: Money Matters

By Stephanie | September 4, 2018

Of all the issues that come up with co-parenting “families of divorce” none are as insidious or downright ugly as “matters of money”. Having attained status as a C.F.P. over the years, I witnessed some of the acrimony the author describes and she is, unfortunately, not exaggerating. The end of the year will often be…

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Will “Calendar Crush” Push “Hybrid Settlement”?

By Stephanie | June 1, 2018

by Stephanie Maloney If you are getting a divorce before the end of 2018 you should be aware of the 30th of June as the final day to file your paperwork.  If however, you need to finalize or amend your current settlement agreement then early October is when the clerks need your paperwork to review. That’s very important to…

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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 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…

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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 college debt you get a sense of where your strategy needs to shift in order to maintain sufficient protection for your assets. Your tax advisor…

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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 as common as traditional divorce litigation, there are many advantages to choosing divorce mediation that can benefit you, your spouse and your children. What is…

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