General information on dissolution of marriage
In my Tampa office, parents come to me all of the time and say they want “sole custody.” Maybe they are having an argument with the other parent. Maybe they just don’t get along. So parents figure that the solution is to be the only one to have decision making authority over their child.
In the video below, social worker Gary Direnfeld challenges the assumptions behind requests for sole custody.
In Tampa Bay and Greater Sarasota, you have a lot of choices when determining who should be your divorce lawyer. You may have already figured out that your best, least destructive path is via collaborative practice, where you and your spouse work together to ensure your kids and finances survive the divorce. But how do you choose which attorney to hire to represent you in a collaborative divorce?
The video below, from Reel Lawyers, discusses the importance of hiring an attorney who specializes in collaborative practice.
One of the most painful aspects of the traditional divorce process is that it seems to drag on forever. Clients are hauled through case management conferences, temporary relief hearings, depositions, motion hearings, pre-trial conferences, and, finally, oftentimes years later, trial.
But this does not need to be the way you go through one of the toughest times of your life. There is a quicker way to divorce.
Tampa Bay divorce attorney Adam B. Cordover was recently cited in a news article from University of California – Los Angeles’ School of Law. The article discusses books that teach lawyers to help families resolve divorce and other disputes privately and peacefully. You can find the article below:
Three new books by UCLA School of Law faculty shine a light on non-traditional forms of practice in order to create greater access to legal services and to help lawyers master alternatives to litigation.
Adjunct Professor Forrest Mosten ’72, a member of the UCLA Law faculty since 2002, and Lecturer Elizabeth Scully are co-authors of The Complete Guide to Mediation and The Family Lawyer’s Guide to Unbundled Legal Services. Mosten also is co-author, with Florida practitioner Adam Cordover, of a third book, Building A Successful Collaborative Practice, to which Scully is contributing a chapter. All three books are published by the American Bar Association. The Complete Guide to Mediation came out in 2015; the other two are slated for publication in 2017.
“We believe that lawyers should be more than gladiators,” said Mosten. “They can be healers and teachers, and their offices can be classrooms of client education. That’s a theme that runs through all of these books and my UCLA courses.”
Spouses going through divorce usually come to a realization pretty quickly: two spouses living in two homes costs more than two spouses living in one home. And with this realization comes a reality check: it is time to reduce living expenses.
One way to reduce living expenses is to reduce your cell phone bill. And, based on personal experience, I recommend reducing your cell phone bill by switching to Consumer Cellular.
If you are separating from your spouse and you are grieving, you are not alone.
In the video below, Canadian divorce lawyer Brian Galbraith discusses the pain he went through during his own divorce.
Many people who are getting divorced want to reach an agreement with their spouse, but they need some help to do so. Though non-adversarial options such as collaborative practice allow those who need more support to each have their own attorney to provide them advice, not everyone wants to be represented by an attorney.
For those people, co-mediation may be a perfect option. And Family Diplomacy is proud to be one of the leading firms in Tampa Bay to offer co-mediation services.
Divorce can be one of the most turbulent times in your life, and so it makes me feel good when I can help clients gain a sense of empowerment and stability.
In a recent review on Avvo.com, a former client of mine discusses how our firm and the collaborative process helped her take back control of her life.
FLORIDA BAR NOTICE: Please note that every case is different, and that you may not receive the same or similar results.
More and more people are deciding that they want to avoid the traditional adversarial divorce court system and instead handle their family law matter privately and respectfully via the collaborative process. In collaborative divorce, each spouse receives independent legal advice from his or her own attorney, and the attorneys are retained solely for the purpose of reaching an out-of-court agreement. Oftentimes, experts will be brought in to help with parenting or financial issues.
As collaborative divorce is becoming more popular and since Florida Governor Rick Scott signed the Collaborative Law Process Act in March 2016, more attorneys who are steeped in the old system of divorce court are now advertising that they offer collaborative services. The issue is that the skillset needed to successfully help clients reach dignified agreements in collaborative practice is very different than the skillset needed to be an aggressive trial lawyer.
Below are four questions you should ask any attorney you are interviewing to possibly represent you in the collaborative divorce process.
There are many people facing divorce and other family law issues who have decided that, to the extent possible, they want to represent themselves (in legal parlance, this is known as acting “pro se“). In recognition of this, the Florida Supreme Court has approved family law forms to streamline the process of representing oneself.
However, even the most savvy among us, if they have not had legal training, can find the task of facing and filling out 100+ pages in forms to be daunting. So what do you do if you want to proceed pro se and not have to pay for a full-time attorney, but still need some help and advice filling out the Florida Supreme Court-approved Family Law Forms?
