Groundbreaking Workshop: How To Assist Clients To Become Agreement Ready

April 2, 2019

By Bart Carey, J.D., Cathleen Collinsworth, CDFA®, MAFF®, and Carol Hughes, Ph.D., LMFT

It’s the final meeting in your client’s Collaborative Divorce process. You are looking around the table and see that each client and professional appears ready to proceed. You have thoroughly prepared your client to be able to reach agreement with his spouse. Alas! Within the first half hour of this final meeting you realize that both your client and the other client are tenaciously clinging to their positions! You ask yourself how this could happen?

It’s important for everyone to become Agreement Ready.

Even experienced collaborative divorce practitioners often fail to understand how all professionals on an interdisciplinary team can assist clients, even high-conflict clients, to become Agreement Ready. At CP Cal’s Celebration XIV on Sunday, on April 28, 2019, in San Diego, trainers Bart Carey, Cathleen Collinsworth and … Read More

Does Respect Have a Place in a Divorce?

December 20, 2018

The anger and other emotions that are usually a part of divorce make it pretty hard to be respectful—Can the Collaborative Divorce Process enable the parties to find some level of respect for each other?

There are many metaphors people use to describe going through a divorce–one is the “leaver” and the other is the “leavee;” one is the windshield and the other is the bug; one is the bat and the other is the ball. There’s a lot of high emotion that’s flowing throughout a divorce; having the coaches in place really allows clients to deal with they must deal with in a constructive and productive manner. In stark contrast is the court system, where the clients must be ready to plow through on the court’s time schedule making decisions that they may not yet be in a good emotional place to be making.

(1) First, the Collaborative Divorce … Read More

How Does Divorce Impact Children?

December 1, 2018

If you ask any adult how their parents’ divorce affected them as children, you’ll get a sad story, even if it has been many years.

It is difficult for children of all ages when their family changes. Occasionally, when the level of conflict has been high, the divorce can come as a relief. More often, though, divorce is experienced by children as extremely stressful, with lots of powerful emotions swirling around in a confusing way.

There are many factors which make divorce stressful for children.

Their parents are distracted by their own pain and the difficult decisions they need to make. This means that sometimes kids aren’t getting the attention they need.
Children always assume that when their parent is feeling strongly it’s because they screwed up in some way. So, in addition to feeling sad, often kids feel vaguely guilty.
Hearing their parents argue is scary for children, especially

What You Can Learn in the Divorce Options Workshop

November 27, 2018

Divorce raises so many questions.

Divorce is hard, and it is one of the most painful times in anyone’s life. Fear about the future will tend to put your dreams and plans on hold. That fear though can be reduced if you take control of your divorce by learning more about your divorce options. A Divorce Options Workshop is one of the best ways to begin learning what you don’t know about divorce and to help you decide what options might work best for you.

What You Can Learn in the Divorce Options Workshop

The Divorce Options Workshop gives you details of four different ways to go about getting your divorce.

Litigation (going to court).

This is the method that most people know about for handling a divorce. One spouse files a petition with the court seeking a divorce. Both spouses have a lawyer for themselves. Your lawyer represents … Read More

A happy client is a returning client if you offer more than Collaborative Divorce.

April 5, 2018

You’ve successfully negotiated the final Judgment in your client’s divorce which the Court has signed. What’s next? Are you off to seek another client or is there something else you can do for this client?

For a case study, see Annie’s story below:

Right after the divorce

Annie and Lee married in 1982 and split in 2010. During the marriage they had 2 children, both of whom are now adults. During the marriage, Lee worked as an aerospace engineer for Lockheed Martin. Annie worked as head of marketing and public relations for McDonald’s. At the time of filing, the parties agreed to waive spousal support, divide the assets equally and divide the attorney’s fees. They agreed that the matter would proceed by default. A judgment and accompanying documents were prepared and signed by the parties. At the time of the default prove-up, Lee had retired and was living outside the … Read More

How to Increase Divorce Options Attendance and Get Collaborative Cases

March 31, 2018

The Problem and the Solution

Mixed Results for Divorce Options Attendance

Divorce Options (DO) workshops were developed by the Sacramento Collaborative group in association with CP Cal about 10 years ago. The original intent was to position the Collaborative Divorce process as one of four primary divorce options- competitive with litigation, mediation and do-it-yourself divorce. DO workshop presenters have consistently commented that they feel that three hours with a seasoned attorney, mental health and financial professional for little or no cost is a real bargain. Folks should be crowding in line to attend our DO workshops. Indeed, our workshops should be packed full each month.

But DO workshop attendance for many groups in California has been less than desired. Presenter participation has dwindled over time. Some groups are considering consolidating their DO efforts or presenting quarterly instead of monthly. Some are even discontinuing their workshops entirely.

Two practice groups

Divorce Mortgage Advisors presenting Workshop at CP Cal Conference XIII

March 20, 2018

Come to CP Cal Conference XIII!

CP Cal Conference XIII, scheduled for April 27-29, 2018 in San Mateo, California, is getting closer. Please join us at the conference for a workshop on “Divorce Mortgage Financing Strategies”, presented by Divorce Mortgage Advisors.

Divorce Mortgage Advisors

Divorce Mortgage Advisors was founded under the premise that family law professionals and their clients deserve expert guidance on how to achieve mortgage related goals within the divorce settlement process. The company’s co-founders, Ross Garcia, a Certified Divorce Lending Professional, and Jason Crowley, CFA, CFP, CDFA, bring a wealth of experience in divorce finance.

Divorce Mortgage Financing Strategies Workshop

In this presentation “Divorce Mortgage Financing Strategies”, Ross Garcia and Jason Crowley will address the common questions they receive about divorcing clients and their ability (or inability) to qualify for a mortgage pre- or post-settlement.

The up-front analysis that the company offers applies to all … Read More

Child Specialists Help Your Kids Understand Their Feelings During Your Divorce

March 23, 2017

If you think divorce is rough on you (and it most certainly is a difficult experience), imagine coping with divorce when you are a child who lacks the emotional maturity and understanding to grasp what it happening and who is powerless to do anything about it.

Child specialists are an invaluable resource during your divorce. Sadly, child specialists are an unrecognized resource not used as effectively as they could be as part of the Collaborative Divorce process.

Here are four ways you can benefit from working with a trained Child Specialist during your Collaborative Divorce.

1. Your children have a “voice” in the divorce process

Experienced Collaborative professionals agree that children benefit from having their own “voice” in the process. Older children appreciate being able to express their concerns and needs. The Child Specialist is the conduit for the child’s participation in the process. These meetings offer children of any … Read More