The American Psychological Association has published an article that neatly sums up the benefits to the entire family if the parents can work out a separation agreement without going to trial. http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/healthy-divorce.aspx. It reminds us that divorce mediation can be “a good alternative to court proceedings” and that “research shows that mediation can be beneficial
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The following article, published in the investment newsletter “The Motley Fool” reminds us that protecting retirement savings during a divorce is important, and third-party mediation or collaborative law may be the best way to protect what was accumulated during your marriage. Remember, you’re better off owning your share of the retirement accounts than having to
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Maryland Court of Appeals Reverses Itself and Recognizes De Facto Parents In a major win for children and adults who helped raise children but did not adopt them, Maryland’s highest court reversed one of its worst decisions and recognized that “de facto parents” should have a rights to custody and visitation even though there is
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I am among the first trained attorneys in Collaborative Law and still believe in its usefulness. However, its use peaked a few years ago and now it is used infrequently, and virtually only in divorce cases. Why? First and foremost, Collaborative Law got a bad reputation for being very expensive. In the early days most
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Lorriane C. Ladish Posted in the Huffington Post the Following 10 Tips for Successful Co-Parenting. Although this list is geared towards mothers, I think it is useful for either mothers or fathers: 1.Practice empathy Co-parenting your kids with your ex is no easy feat. Practicing empathy, trying to put yourself in both your kids’ and
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A recent article in the Washington Post highlights how courts are trending to awarding fathers more time with their young children, even when the child is an infant. Titled “What’s more important than breast-feeding a baby? Giving a father time with his child” http://wapo.st/2gm0Xkq?tid=ss_mail&utm_term=.64728a23e3c5 the article discusses how a local court rejected a mother’s claim
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I recently had lunch with a friend who commented that he had several friends who wouldn’t talk to each other because of the election results. Some even changed their Thanksgiving plans because they didn’t want to have to share a meal around partisan recriminations. He then told me that he had a friend who was
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We are sometimes asked whether Maryland is a community property state. It is not. Only Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin are. Maryland is an equitable property state. In equitable property states such as Maryland, property acquired during the marriage belongs to the spouse in whose name the property is titled–but
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Maryland is a two party consent state for purposes of recording another person. That is, you are not permitted to record someone in Maryland without the other party’s consent. However, there is a little known, huge exception to that rule—recordings made on cell phones. At a recent divorce trial I successfully argued that the cell
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A common misconception is that alimony will automatically end when the person paying the alimony retires. Unless the settlement agreement specifically provides for alimony termination upon retirement, recent cases in hold that alimony will continue, although perhaps at a reduced amount. In two Maryland cases, Ridgeway v. Ridgeway, 171 Md. App. 373; 910 A.2d 503 (2006) and Stewart v. Stewart, No.
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