Divorce guidance you can count on

Divorce is never easy, but with the information in Nolo's Essential Guide to Divorce, you can make the process as simple, inexpensive, and conflict-free as possible.

With compassion and expertise, family law attorney Emily Doskow explains how to make divorce less painful by helping you:

• understand the divorce process


• minimize day-to-day conflict with your spouse


• work with lawyers or mediators without breaking the bank


• avoid costly, exhausting court battles, and


• stay calm and make good decisions.

You'll learn about your legal rights and options for resolving tough divorce-related issues, including:

• child support and custody


• alimony


• property division, and


• drafting a marital settlement agreement.

GETTING MARRIED?

Thinking About Prenuptial Agreements?

For anyone who is getting married, embarking on a prenuptial agreement can often be a distressing and disappointing journey. Sometimes the negotiations irreparably damage the impending marriage and may even cause a couple to break up. People considering prenuptial agreements almost invariably face what seems to be an insurmountable task filled with angst. But it doesn't have to be this way.

The Marriage-Friendly Prenup: How to Create a Thoughtful and Caring Prenuptial Agreement contains ideas and methods for future spouses to find common ground and create positive outcomes for each other when formulating a prenup. It provides guidance on how to mitigate the harm often caused by the usual process of getting a prenup. The Marriage-Friendly Prenup provides concepts and tools that will help foster creative and collaborative decision-making and mutual problem-solving. This results in better prenups, ones that that can actually increase marital harmony and goodwill.

With a clarity and grace that comes from years of experience helping couples through the pain of divorce, and now, more joyfully, helping couples create healthy prenuptial agreements, Laurie Israel shares her insightful, optimistic, and grounded wisdom on building a strong, healthy marriage, with, or without, a prenup.

The Marriage-Friendly Prenup is a must-read for couples at all stages of their relationship. It is also a vital resource for lawyers, financial advisers, couples' therapists, clergy, and friends and family of people who are embarking on prenuptial agreements.

The Marriage-Friendly Prenup is not only legally, but financially and emotionally sophisticated, and covers all the most important topics - it is a genuine classic. The book provides solid advice for building a happy life with a new spouse, digs us out of the era of marriage-weakening prenups, and spiritedly charts a new way forward.

Laurie Israel's analysis adds humanity and generosity of spirit to the inherently emotionally complex and traditionally purely money-focused process and helps spouses to be the best people they can be. Her approach is based on a simple observation that the dynamics around money are inseparable from other interpersonal dynamics. This means that a poorly negotiated prenup can easily cause so much damage that it becomes a tearful roadmap for divorce.

In this accessible, succinct, and surprisingly happy book, the author asks the reader to respect the existing laws on marriage and divorce by understanding them, and not to treat them as the enemy but as a guiding template to creating a healthy prenuptial agreement. Laurie Israel capably provides couples with a practical framework for creating agreements that strengthen, rather than weaken, their relationships.

All the information you need to split your assets, easily and fairly

Major financial decisions are often overwhelming, but they can feel downright impossible when you're in the midst of a divorce. Turn to Divorce & Money, the acclaimed guide that translates complex financial concepts into plain language to help you:

- create a cash flow statement using your income and expenses

- uncover your spouse's financial information

- determine the value of real estate, retirement accounts, and other assets

- understand how child support and alimony are calculated

- divide your property and debts fairly

- negotiate a comprehensive settlement

- achieve financial stability after divorce, and

- learn when and how to talk to a professional (attorney, tax adviser, or appraiser).

How to Move on With Your Life Without Losing Everything

Divorce is the intersection of everything we hold dear in life: love, sex, money, and children. When those are threatened, people get angry. Logical and reasoned decision-making spirals to power plays and finger-pointing, and potentially open warfare. Without a clear head, divorce is a lose-lose for everyone except the lawyers.

It doesn't have to be that way. Family law attorney Raiford Palmer has helped clients find a faster, more peaceful, less costly alternative to World War III divorce cases. Unfortunately, some divorce lawyers (and their clients who don't know better) fight it out, at great expense to the divorcing spouses. Worse, divorcing parties fail to consider the all-important cost-benefit analysis to assess their chances in a case, so they end up chasing legal strategies that are not worth the trouble.

In I Just Want This Done, Raif guides the reader through the divorce process, from filing through resolution. With step-by-step advice, practical tips, and never-do-at-any-cost warnings, I Just Want This Done teaches:

• What matters and what doesn't in divorce
• How to know if reconciliation is possible or not
• How typical legal advice risks everything
• How to choose the right divorce lawyer
• How to be a smart client
• The 22 myths most people believe about divorce
• Your four case resolution options
• What the meta case is and how to win it
• The four true costs of divorce and how to minimize them
• How to protect your business and career during divorce
• The do's and don'ts of child custody
• How (and why) to hire a divorce coach
• How to handle new significant others
• How to not be painted as a jerk

If you want to avoid the divorce swamp, regain control of your future, and keep your kids, money, mind, and happiness, this book is for you.

Do you know what you're committing to-legally speaking-when you exchange wedding vows?

Saying I do means you've essentially agreed to a prenup by default. Most people haven't read their state's marital contract, but here's the gist: it was written in the 1800s by a bunch of old chauvinists whose idea of marriage would be best described today as cringe. Have there been tweaks? Sure. How's the foundation? Legally terrifying. And divorce happens. There's nothing colder and more embarrassing than having your divorce dominated by the state's default marriage laws.

In The Prenup Prescription, Harvard Law graduate and family attorney Aaron Thomas explains how a proper prenup can not only protect but improve your relationship. Don't just sign your state's antiquated, boilerplate marriage license and hope for the best. Sign up for happily ever after after reading this book to safeguard yourself and your spouse from outdated laws and cold feet.

Providing accurate and objective information to help make the right decisions during a divorce in Texas, this guide provides answers to 360 queries such as How quickly can one get a divorce? Who decides who gets the cars, the pets, and the house? What actions might influence child custody? How are bills divided and paid during the divorce? How much will a divorce cost? and Will a spouse have to pay some or all attorney fees? Structured in a question-and-answer format, this divorce handbook provides clear responses to help build confidence and give the peace of mind needed to meet the challenges of a divorce proceeding.

Now there's a low-cost divorce alternative -- The Michigan Divorce Book. With background information about divorce, step-by-step instructions, filled-in sample divorce forms and blank tear-out divorce forms, The Michigan Divorce Book is a complete do-it-yourself kit for doing an uncontested divorce in Michigan. Can you join the thousands of people who have used The Michigan Divorce Book to do their own divorces without laywers? See Chapter 1 to find out if your divorce is uncontested and whether it's easy enough to do yourself.

Do you know what you're committing to-legally speaking-when you exchange wedding vows?

Saying I do means you've essentially agreed to a prenup by default. Most people haven't read their state's marital contract, but here's the gist: it was written in the 1800s by a bunch of old chauvinists whose idea of marriage would be best described today as cringe. Have there been tweaks? Sure. How's the foundation? Legally terrifying. And divorce happens. There's nothing colder and more embarrassing than having your divorce dominated by the state's default marriage laws.

In The Prenup Prescription, Harvard Law graduate and family attorney Aaron Thomas explains how a proper prenup can not only protect but improve your relationship. Don't just sign your state's antiquated, boilerplate marriage license and hope for the best. Sign up for happily ever after after reading this book to safeguard yourself and your spouse from outdated laws and cold feet.

When Dominique's marriage ended because his wife filed for a divorce, he had not expected what would follow. When he thought he was a loving and present father who could easily enter into an easy, stress-free co-parenting arrangement with his estranged wife, he didn't know that this would be the beginning of years of stress, extortion, frustration and disappointment with the very systems he thought would help him have shared custody of his kids?
His is a story of how an ordinary guy who was ambitious and hard-working tending to his family would end up with an extraordinary loss of everything he held dear because of the desire for vengeance from his ex-wife.
From resigning from a career as an IT Executive to founding a school with over 10 years experience as a Credentialed Director with Florida's Department of Children and Family, Dominique's story is triumphant and exhilarating to see that the family court system even when abused by anyone who has the right connections, money, and power, is not enough to destroy one's spirit in being a great parent.
Follow his journey throughout his divorce (there is an appendix at the end showing the court proceedings), including how he ended up broke and unable to afford a lawyer, being forced to represent himself as a pro se litigant, to losing his school, commercial property, the kids and much more. In addition, as if that's not enough, follow how he has fought the system, uncovered illegalities, corruption, and unethical legal practices that would make you think again about being so confident that being an educated and informed pro se litigant is enough to get you a fair share of access to your kids and property during a divorce.
Learn how he has since rediscovered himself, tried new things and is on a recovery journey while having fun and enjoying every moment of it! His 7 spiritual lessons about recovery will undoubtedly prove helpful to anyone who has been in a similar situation and hasn't found an effective coping mechanism.

Make sense of the fears that drive people to file lawsuits, complaints and wreak havoc for legal professionals and everyone.

People with high conflict personalities (HCPs) clog our courts as plaintiffs with inappropriate claims against their personal targets of blame, and as defendants who have harmed others and need to be stopped. Everybody knows someone with a High Conflict Personality. How can he be so unreasonable? Why does she keep fighting? Can't she see how destructive she is? Can you believe they're going to court over ______?

Some HCPs are more difficult than others, but they tend to share a similar preoccupation with blame that drives them into one dispute after anotherand keeps everyone perplexed about how to deal with them.

Using case examples and an analysis of the general litigation and negotiation behaviors of HCPs, this book helps make sense of the fears that drive people to file lawsuits and complaints. It provides insight for containing their behavior while managing and/or resolving their disputes. Characteristics of the five high-conflict personality disorders are explored:

• Borderline
• Narcissistic
• Histrionic
• Paranoid
• Antisocial

New in this edition:

• Updates from the 2013 release of the revised DSM-5
• New chapter on Paranoid Personality Disorder
• New chapter on Presenting Your Case
• Research on the prevalence of personality disorders
• New case examples

Military Divorce Tips, for the service member, the soon-to-be-former spouse, and their attorneys, provides a solid foundation for a basic understanding of military divorce issues. This efficient reference tool provides quick insight to the complexities involved without delving too heavily into the U.S. Codes themselves. At the same time, attorneys are able to use the footnotes if sources are needed for litigation. An awareness of the basics can lessen the economic and emotional turmoil of divorce. Consultations with financial advisors and divorce lawyers will be more productive, less time consuming, and less expensive after reading the topics included in this book.

Providing accurate and objective information to help make the right decisions during a divorce in Arizona, this guide provides answers to more than 350 queries such as: What is the mediation process in Arizona and is it required? Who decides who gets the cars, the pets, and the house? What actions might influence child custody? How are bills divided and paid during the divorce? Structured in a question-and-answer format, this divorce handbook provides clear and concise responses to help build confidence and give the peace of mind needed to meet the challenges of a divorce proceeding.

One way to cope with the complexities and stresses of working with high-conflict families is by organizing and systematizing. There is so much that is unpredictable and uncontrollable when one is evaluating a high-conflict family system, that it is critical to predict and control all that can be predicted and controlled. This volume offers standardized questionnaire and interview tools to assist the elevator in this endeavor. Caveat: A standardized questionnaire or interview is not an assessment instrument, per se. None of the resources contained in this volume have now or are likely to ever have established reliability or validity coefficients. None of these resources generate diagnoses. Each of these resources is intended to provide you, the evaluating family law professional, with one among many perspectives on the matter at hand; the mans to draw a map to guide you through the complex family system. They provide grist for the mill and added value to the process. What you'll find in this book: - an introduction to each of ten evaluations tools presented in a sequence of six broad categories or chapters - an introduction at the beginning of each chapter to the general topic, including an annotated discussion of the resource - a chapter-by-chapter list of references - a CD containing all ten forms to download and print The resources are laid in between, page-by-page. Empirical citations are intended to highlight aspects of each tool that are particularity interesting or valuable. When possible, items are cross-referenced within a given resource with related data that is available elsewhere.

Essential self-teaching guide on family law.

From the foundations of constitutional law to complex issues of contracts, the Essential Law Self-Teaching Guide series is a perfect compendium to help readers understand multifaceted areas of American Law. Created by highly qualified legal professionals with extensive credentials, these books empower readers to expand their understanding of law.

The content is a clearly presented and systematically organized review of legal principles governing various areas of law. It elucidates the concepts of constitutional rights, criminal law, civil procedure, rules of evidence, contracts, torts, real property, family law, estates, wills and trusts, and business associations.

Over several decades, policies have made mediation a key part of the English and Welsh family justice system. As the process faces increasing demand from a diverse and complex client base, some argue for a return to a fully funded court system. However, this dominant view overlooks the longstanding problems with the court process, as well as the potential value of mediation.

This book, based on original research, highlights the evolving role of mediators who assist families without legal support. By doing so, it reveals a contemporary vision of family justice that addresses some of the challenges in today's landscape.

ePDF and ePUB available open access under CC-BY-NC-ND licence. Recent legislative changes in England and Wales have eroded children's ability to exercise their article 12 UNCRC rights to information, consultation and representation when parents separate. However, children's voices may be heard through child-inclusive mediation (CIM). Considered from a children's rights perspective, this book provides a critical socio-legal account of CIM practice. It draws on in-depth interviews with relationship professionals, mediators, parents and children, to consider the experiences, risks and benefits of CIM. It investigates obstacles to greater uptake of CIM and its role in improving children's wellbeing and agency. Exploring the culture and practice changes necessary for a more routine application of CIM, the book demonstrates how reconceptualising CIM through a children's rights framework could help to address barriers and improve outcomes for children.

ANSWERING ALL YOUR QUESTIONS - EVEN THE ONES YOU'RE AFRAID TO ASK

• What will this process cost me? What exactly is a retainer anyway?
• How do I find a lawyer? Will they keep my secrets?
• Can we avoid going to court?
• What do all these terms mean: motion, order, applicant, financial disclosure, valuation date?
• How long will all this take to settle?
• Is there a difference between mediation, arbitration and collaborative divorce?
• When do I go to court?
• When do I sign an agreement?
• How many steps are there in this process?

You'll find the answers to these questions - and more - in Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Divorce.

It goes without saying that family law is complicated. As an experienced divorce lawyer, Russell Alexander saw a need for a comprehensive, but easy-to-read synopsis of the ins and outs of the Ontario family law process.

With its Q&A lists, real-life cases and commentary, this book aims to give Ontario readers a simple-to-understand resource for answering their family law questions.

The Parenting Plan Worksheet is the conscientious caregiver's only developmentally-informed means of creating a child-centered parenting plan. Sixteen discrete but interlocking modules allow parents singly or together to better understand the intricate decisions that will guide the future allocation of their parenting rights and responsibilities.

This book, The Roadmap to The Parenting Plan Worksheet, is the professional's guide to using the Parenting Plan Worksheet. The Roadmap dissects the sixteen component modules of the Worksheet, presenting case law, theory and empirical discussion.

Mediators, parenting coordinators, lawyers and courts use the Roadmap to guide parents through the rocky terrain that can lead to the creation of a child-centered, developmentally-informed parenting plan.

About half of all marriages in the United States end in divorce, and most of these divorces result in unnecessary collateral damage. Now there is a better way.

In Collaborative Divorce, Pauline Tesler and Peggy Thompson, two pioneers in the field who train collaborative professionals around the world, present the first complete, step-by-step explanation of the groundbreaking method that is revolutionizing the way couples end their marriages. Working with a team of caring specialists that includes two lawyers, two coaches, a financial consultant, and a child specialist (if necessary), you and your spouse focus on building a consensus that addresses the needs of everyone who will be directly affected by the divorce. This exciting new paradigm empowers you--not lawyers or a judge--to shape the outcome of your divorce, as you:

• Stay out of court and save time
• Create long-term financial and parenting plans that work
• Play an active role in designing your life after the divorce
• Understand and address your children's needs
• Conserve emotional and financial resources

Collaborative Divorce is essential reading that will inspire you to approach divorce as a vehicle for conflict resolution, healing, and positive, long-term change.

The 125 Questions every woman must ask!

Helping readers to make rational decisions in an irrational time, this expert guide takes women through the practical issues of divorce--especially the things their lawyer may not reveal. When it comes to divorce, what you don't know CAN hurt you...and sometimes, women need more than just a lawyer's advice to help them through this complicated and confusing time. That's why divorce consultant Margery Rubin has created What Your Divorce Lawyer May Not Tell You, a unique guide for the woman working to stay afloat during one of the most difficult times of her life. Learn: - How to select the right lawyer and negotiate a price you can afford. - Why waiting to consult an attorney--even if you're not sure you're going to file for divorce--can be a costly mistake. - Where to look for important financial information that your spouse might be hiding. - How to build in safeguards to your custody agreement to prevent costly court battles later on. Packed with the author's expertise--gained first during the breakup of her own marriage to a top divorce attorney, and then as the founder of DivorceSource, a consulting firm dedicated to advising women on how to navigate divorce proceedings--this book gives women invaluable, step-by-step advice on everything they need to survive their marriage's end...and get on with the rest of their lives.