How to Keep a Business Alive After a Divorce

When entrepreneurial couples get divorced, there’s often at least one child that gets torn apart: the business they raised together.

Spouses who spent years building a company suddenly find themselves having to divide it up, and the negotiations can get nasty. One spouse may demand a bigger share of the company to soothe bad feelings from the divorce. Another may get defensive about the business’s finances and refuse to divulge details. And old resentments about how the business has been managed can bubble to the surface, making things even uglier.Both spouses can be left emotionally drained, and the business can end up neglected—or dissolved entirely.

In this excellent article from The Wall Street Journal Andrew Blackman writes about what marriage experts and entrepreneurs say couples can do to keep a business together, even when the owners no longer are.

Grandparents' Lives Shattered From Divorce

Grandparents take a largely unseen hit from divorce when they lose contact with the grandchild they love. Divorce can shatter grandparents' lives as much as the couple involved, because it can mean contact is suddenly blocked, and grandparents have no automatic right to be part of their grandchild's life.

This article from the Kent and Sussex Courier highlights the efforts Kent Family Mediation Services is making to help grandparents resume the contact they so badly want with family members.

How to Make Your Divorce as Expensive as Possible

The average cost of a divorce in California was most recently estimated to be $95,000 total — $47,500 per spouse. In Los Angeles County, the average length of a litigated divorce (i.e., a traditional, courtroom-based with an attorney representing each spouse) is 3-4 years.

Those statistics are not only insane, they are entirely unnecessary.

Still, couples choose to litigate their divorces every day.  In this excellent article Arianna Jeret offers 12 helpful tips for making sure your divorce is as lengthy and expensive as possible.

Winning - or Losing - the Custody Battle

In this blog posting, Joshua Katz, a divorce lawyer in New York, writes that "winning a custody battle is all about your lawyer’s presentation to the judge." Mr. Katz goes on to say that, as a litigator in child custody cases, his job is to "present my client to the judge in a positive way."

The question I ask is "why do parents, both of whom care deeply about their children and, hopefully, wish to foster a positive relationship between the child and the non-custodial parent, leave custody decisions to the courts?"

Divorce mediation allows you to stay in control. You have greater control over your decisions as the you and your partner − not the mediator, judge or lawyers − determine the outcome. Decisions stay where they belong: in your hands. After all, you know best the needs of your children and your plans for the future.

If you or someone you know could benefit from assistance in decision making during a divorce, contact Falmouth Mediation at 508-566-4159 for a free, no-obligation, private, confidential consultation. We will be happy to discuss the key details of your situation, address any concerns, and help you decide if divorce mediation would be beneficial.

Finding the Right Parenting Plan

A major benefit of mediation is that a couple can test out more than one parenting plan as they try to figure out what’s best for their child and family. The couple controls the timing and pacing of the mediation process. They can proceed as fast or slow as they deem necessary, until they are truly comfortable with the arrangements they’ve worked out.

In this excellent article, Susan Ingram contrasts that with a couple that is litigating their divorce. Their separate lawyers often take rigid and “hard” positions on the issues, including parenting. And their lawyers typically encourage little or no communication between the two of them. Certainly not the best circumstances for working through (and testing out) a viable parenting plan.

Taxes And Divorce

If you divorced in 2015, there are a few important things to be aware of in order to avoid potential hassles.

Robert Bordet offers this quick cheat sheet:

1. Know your filing status.
2. Review your settlement agreement in order to determine who can claim the children as exemptions.
3. Ensure you have an IRS form 8332 signed, if required.
4. Determine the amount of your withholdings on your form W4.
5. Ensure you’ve done estimated payments if your withholding is not enough, or if you’re receiving alimony.

Five Keys to Successfully Mediate a Divorce Settlement

Couples facing divorce typically experience a great deal of anxiety, stress and emotional pain during the process. In fact, many get caught up in their anger and frustration to the point that they end up sabotaging or killing their divorce settlement. This is an outcome couples should strive to avoid, especially since decisions made now can significantly impact them financially and emotionally for many years to come.

In this excellent article Patricia Barrett offers five keys to ensuring you and your soon-to-be-ex-spouse don't sabotage the mediation process with negative comments or bad behavior.

• Avoid knee jerk reactions to proposed offers
• Don't shoot yourself in the foot
• Know what you want and expect to compromise
• Do not breach the trust you are building
• Own your decisions

Five Tips To Get Ready For Divorce Mediation

The holidays are hectic, happy, stressful and busy all at once— especially for families going through or approaching a divorce. According to FindLaw.com, U.S. divorce rates are highest from January to March each year. This could be due to stress caused by the holidays, financial issues with tax season approaching, or New Years resolutions that don’t involve staying in an unhappy relationship.

Whether a legal separation is recent or on the horizon, preparation can be key in making the process as smooth as possible. In this excellent article Debra Synovec offers five tips to get ready for divorce mediation in the New Year:

• Know what you want.
• Get your finances in order.
• Think of the kids.
• Leave your ego behind.
• Find the right mediator for you.

If you or someone you know could benefit from assistance in decision making during a divorce, contact Falmouth Mediation at 508-566-4159 for a free, no-obligation, private, confidential consultation. We will be happy to discuss the key details of your situation, address any concerns, and help you decide if divorce mediation would be beneficial.

Divorce? Look before you leap

Considering a divorce?

As with any break-up, whatever the reasons, it is vital that you give it very careful thought and communicate honestly with your partner. Divorce is a seismic life change that rarely comes without trauma, upset and downside at any age so do not rush into it.

In this excellent article, Peter Jones shares some consequences you may not have thought of, and offers salutary advice on staying together – or at least parting well.

5 Myths That Stop Couples from Starting Mediation

Some people anticipating a separation or divorce think, because of frequently heard myths, they are not ready to start the mediation process.

In this article Jennifer Safian debunks five of these myths.

• We have not yet filed for our divorce in court.
• We have not yet worked out the terms of our divorce together.
• We have not decided what to do about the marital home.
• We don’t get along.
• We have not yet retained lawyers.

Many people put off beginning their mediation because of these 5 myths, but that is exactly what they are, myths. Don’t prolong what may be a very unhappy situation.

If you or someone you know could benefit from assistance in decision making during a divorce, contact Falmouth Mediation at 508-566-4159 for a free, no-obligation, private, confidential consultation. We will be happy to discuss the key details of your situation, address any concerns, and help you decide if divorce mediation would be beneficial.