Mom with Breast Cancer loses Custody of kids

A Mom in Durham, NC recently lost custody of her children because she was diagnosed with breast cancer.  In an extremely sad case, and yet another shining example of why collaborative law is such a promising tool for resolving family law conflicts, Alaina Giordano has lost custody of her two children because of a terminal … Read more

Divorce and kids around the holidays… Ugh…

The Holidays are hard enough for those of us that aren’t divorced.  Figuring out which relatives you are going to see when, packing the car, getting the dogs to the kennel, coordinating the cat sitter, driving across the country to visit family…. and the list goes on and on.  And I’m not divorced.  It’s enough … Read more

5 Raleigh Divorce Lawyers join Separating Together

I guess these things aren’t quite official until there is a press release about it.  Just announced – myself and four other Raleigh Divorce Lawyers have joined Separating Together, a Collaborative Family Law Practice Group in Raleigh, North Carolina. All of us have pledged to restrict our law practices to resolving family law matters without … Read more

Getting a divorce in North Carolina: Some Pitfalls

North Carolina has some wacky laws when it comes to divorce.  They are not always intuitive, and sometimes they are downright unfair.  One such example is a rule called the “McClean Presumption”.  This rule deals with Equitable distribution in North Carolina, and the treatment of marital and separate real property (also known as land) and … Read more

Questions about a Collaborative Divorce Practice

In response to my most recent blog post, I’ve received some questions about what taking my family law practice 100% Collaborative means for the remainder of my practice…  Here are some of the questions I’ve received and my responses: Does this mean that you’ll only do collaborative divorces? Actually, No.  It only means that I … Read more

I’m all in with Collaborative Divorce

Yesterday I conducted a collaborative divorce conference at the Separating Together offices in Raleigh.  What began as an extremely emotional, divisive, and potentially explosive divorce, is now beginning to steer its way towards final resolution.  This would have been one of those cases where a typical litigation attorney would have proclaimed loudly, “collaborative divorce will … Read more

How does Collaborative Divorce work?

Many people still don’t understand exactly how collaborative divorce works – here is a brief rundown of the process. Both parties start by selecting a collaborative lawyer to assist them in their case.  This is probably the most important step, and one that many people fail to get past.  The key here is that both … Read more

What is the true “cost” of divorce in Cary?

I came across a podcast today by a divorce lawyer in Boston, Massachusetts who discussed the “cost” of getting divorced.  Here are some of the questions he was asked, with my answers. You hear in the news about couples staying together simply because the cost of divorce is too high. What makes getting a divorce … Read more