Florida Divorce * Child Custody * Domestic Violence Law Lawyer | Boynton Beach

Domestic violence can strike where least expected.

Senior New Jersey Husband and Wife divorce after thirty-seven years of marriage.

Husband allegedly threatens Wife’s divorce attorney.

A New Jersey restaurant owner reportedly has contemplated seeking a restraining order against Husband or pressing criminal charges against him for harassing customers.

Wife is found, murdered. She was stabbed eighty times.

Husband turns up in Washington state.

Husband is arrested for threatening the divorce lawyer and incarcerated in Washington pending extradition to New Jersey.

Law enforcement characterizes Husband as a “person of interest” in Wife’s murder.

Read more in this Denville [NJ] Daily Record article: Denville NJ murder: Different perspectives on Anthony Novellino and this Denville [NJ] Daily Record article: Morris County NJ tip led to Anthony Novellino’s arrest in Washington.

A financial planner strongly recommends creating a budget after divorce to facilitate wise decisionmaking about finances.

(Actually, a budget should really be created prior to settlement or trial, for the same reason.)

Perspective is helpful in making any major purchases or financial decisions.

Depending on a person’s individual circumstances, their immediate priority may be education, training or financing a business, in order to increase their ability to generate long-term income. In the short run, this may need to take precedence over other purchases or investments.

Further, it may be prudent to favor liquid investments over others for some time after divorce – maybe even an emergency cash reserve.

For many people, major purposes should be deferred or subordinated temporarily to the two above priorities after divorce.

Marital settlements or awards are only made once and investment mistakes may be difficult to recover from.

A financial planner may be helpful and appropriate in this process.

Read more in this Primedia iAfrica article: Start over after divorce.

The final judgment is entered. The court case is over.

Next begins the aftermath of divorce. For some spouses, even spouses who initiated the divorce, this can be a very difficult time.

A lot of divorced spouses would benefit from some type of counseling and professional support to aid them in transitioning to their new life.

A couple of therapists in California have designed a therapeutic program specifically intended to take an ex-spouse through that emotional transition from grief to recovery and beyond.

They call it Divorce Detox.

They believe that proper treatment is necessary both to heal and to fully embrace and maximize the opportunity to start a fresh, new life.

Read more in this Earth Times press release: Emotional Cost of Divorce Skyrocketing Due to Lack of Treatment.

Rhode Island Father in prison.

Father’s Daughter is born.

Father moves multiple times for visitation or timesharing with Daughter.

Trial judge denies.

And, a matter of weeks to six months before Father’s release, terminates Father’s parental rights to Daughter on grounds of abandonment and serious detriment to Daughter.

At the trial, the only witness is Father himself.

No caseworkers on behalf of the child welfare agency.

No evidence about Father’s compliance or noncompliance with his case plan.

No testimony about what would be in Daughter’s best interests.

Father has completed drug treatment, anger management, domestic violence prevention and behavior therapy.

Father’s prison therapist recommends reunification of Father and Daughter.

Father appeals.

Rhode Island Supreme Court reverses, holding that the state’s child welfare agency has not met its burden of proof of Father’s unfitness as a parent.

Read more in this Providence [RI] Journal article: Family Court Judge Jeremiah criticized in R.I. Supreme Court ruling.

A financial writer offers some suggestions for pre-divorce actions that may help pave the way for a smoother post-divorce life.

1. Open an Individual Savings Account and, If Possible, Accumulate a Nest Egg to Help You Through

2. Open an Individual Credit Account and Establish Personal Credit, Even as You Take Stock of Your Marital Debts and Pay Off, Freeze, Refinance or Document Your Position on Them

3. Consult Financial, Tax and Legal Professionals About Your Rights and Obligations

4. Create a Realistic Personal Budget to Better Understand Your Post-Divorce Needs

5. Update Personal Passwords and Access Codes for Everything from Financial Accounts, E-Mail and Social Networking Sites and Update Your Spouse’s Status / Access

Read more in this Second Act article: 5 Smart Divorce Money Moves.

After divorce, different approaches to parenting can create great conflict between parents.

Sometimes one parent is stricter and has more household rules.

And the other parent is more permissive, laidback and/or trusting than the other. And if that parent travels for business, that parent may leave teenaged children and their friends unsupervised, even overnight.

These parenting disputes can encourage children to manipulate one or both parents and spur them to exercise their rights, real or imagined, over which parent they spend time with.

They can also lead to wild parties and other incidents that result in property damage, risky and inappropriate behavior, and even injuries.

Ideally, parents will work together to provide children with consistency – and safety.

But things don’t always go that well in the post-divorce universe. Sometimes these disputes push parents back into court and into working with various professional coparenting facilitators.

Read more in this Wall Street Journal post: Joint Custody of Teens Plus Business Travel Can Equal Trouble

An upstate New York mental health professional (Evaluator) has been arrested for allegedly falsifying his credentials … for the purpose of securing contracts with government agencies to perform court-ordered psychological evaluations.

Several charges were brought against him, some of them felonies.

The institutions reportedly granting some or all of his degrees were not legimate educational institutions, but rather pay-for-a-degree mills.

The Evaluator reportedly performed numerous court-ordered psychological evaluations over the years, which played decisive roles in child custody and timesharing rulings in family court cases, among other cases.

If the Evaluator is convicted, it could spur a significant amount of family court litigation in the communities he served.

Read more in this Glen Falls [NY] Post-Star article: Special prosecutor assigned in false credentials case and this West Palm Beach Examiner article: Doctor under contract to Saratoga Public Defenders Office arrested, alleged phony college degrees.

Virginia Father and Mother have sixteen month old Baby.

Father and Mother are no longer together.

Father is determined to see Baby right now.

Father and Mother argue about it on phone.

Father comes to Mother’s home.

Father aggressively enters Mother’s home.

Father sprays pepper spray into face of older man there.

Mother is affected by the pepper spray too.

Father takes Baby and leaves the home with him.

Police arrest Father and charge him with breaking and entering with intent to commit a felony, child endangerment, child abuse, assault and battery, and domestic assault and battery.

Police return Baby, uninjured, to Mother.

It is unknown whether Father had court-ordered timesharing. And, if he did, how this incident will affect it.

Read more in this Fredericksburg, VA Free Lance-Star article: Man charged in pepper spray incident.

North Carolina Husband and Wife have two children.

Husband works as corrections officer.

Wife files for child custody, support and alimony.

Trial court orders Husband to pay $1,100 in monthly child and spousal support.

Husband quits his corrections officer job after entry of the support order. …

And joins a religious commune which forbids members from making money outside the commune.

Husband fails to pay court-ordered support.

Wife files for contempt.

Husband defends on the basis of religious freedom and inability to pay.

Trial court finds that Husband’s new religious beliefs are genuine. …

And holds Husband in contempt anyway.

Husband’s change of religious heart flies in the face of the court’s order.

Husband appeals.

Appellate court affirms and holds Husband to his court-ordered support payments.

Read more in this Courthouse News Service article: Faith Is ‘Irrelevant’ to Child Support, Court Says.

A credit card company representative suggests some frank financial philosophical exchanges before your wedding day. That’s better, of course.

But, if neither of you has filed for divorce yet, it’s still not too late. Money is at the root of many marriage breakups.

Money problems complicate many divorces. And drive up their cost. Aggravating the problem and extending it into post-divorce life.

Some candid conversation may shed light on a bad intended union, help repair a shaky marriage or make a divorce simpler and cheaper.

The expert’s suggestions for discussion:

1. Accumulated debts
2. Credit reports and scores
3. Financial goals
4. Financial chores

The candor and discussion shouldn’t stop after the wedding.

Read more in this Huffington Post article: Before “I Do,” Take These Financial Vows.

In the Bronx, young single fathers (16 -24) who want to bone up on their parenting skills can participate in the Bronx Fatherhood Program.

The program runs the gamut from teaching dads how to properly feed and bathe their children to teaching them how to interact with their kids’ mothers, so they aren’t denied access.

Most students probably didn’t have good family role models growing up.

Despite this, one alumnus of the program spends several hours every day after work with his toddler daughter.

For him, every day is Father’s Day. That’s the good news.

The bad news is that, according to recent studies, dads are now struggling as much as moms with juggling family responsibilities and work.

This is attributed to a combination of the lengthening work day and dads shouldering more domestic responsibilities.

Read more in this New York Times article: For a Young Parent, Lessons in Fatherhood and this New York Times article: Now, Dad Feels as Stressed as Mom.

Tomorrow is Father’s Day.

And many, many children don’t live with their fathers.

The typical timesharing schedule allows fathers to have their children on Father’s Day.

But that’s one day out of the year.

What about the rest of the year?

Some of the dads who don’t live with their children are divorced. But many were never married to their mothers, maybe only saw them briefly.

As between ex-husbands and boyfriends, studies show that, in general, divorced fathers tend to be more involved as fathers than ex-boyfriends.

Regardless, more fathers who don’t live with their children tend to spend time, and more time, with their children today than in decades past.

Studies tend to show that children have higher self-esteem, are less likely to be delinquent and less likely to suffer from depression when their fathers are actively engaged in their lives.

Newr technologies, ranging from cell phones to web-cameras, make it easier for fathers to stay in touch and involved.

But dads who don’t see their kids much, tend not to use these other means of contact either.

Still, when all is said and done, the degree of contact fathers have with their children reportedly usually correlates strongly with with the character of the relationship between the parents and their ability to co-parent.

So, will your child be timesharing with dad on Father’s Day?

Read more in this USA Today article: Dads who don’t live with their kids find ways to be involved.

Real estate magnate Husband and Wife are in the middle of a contentious divorce.

Wife confirms that she is the only beneficiary of Husband’s life insurance.

Husband is shot to death outside of his girlfriend’s apartment.

Divorce doesn’t go through.

Wife collects more than $4 million from life insurance.

Wife maintains innocence of any involvement in Husband’s murder.

And goes about her business as though nothing has happened.

Twenty years go by.

Along the way, Wife files for bankruptcy.

Wife is diagnosed with bipolar disorder. She is hospitalized for it several times in the last several years.

Police wiretaps capture Wife making incriminating remarks to a friend on the phone.

Wife, now elderly, pleads guilty to hiring someone to kill Husband.

Wife is sentenced to from twelve to thirty-six years in prison.

An attorney acquaintance, who reportedly was Wife’s accomplice, was convicted of murder before Wife and incarcerated for twenty-five years to life.

Read more in this San Jose [CA] Mercury News article: NYC widow gets prison for 1990 contract killing

Ohio residents don’t have to go any further than their own home computers to learn about child support enforcement in general and their own cases in particular.

Not by painstaking independent research either.

Ohio’s child support enforcement agency holds online chat sessions where general information is disseminated, including answers to participants’ general questions.

Adding to the convenience factor, any child support customer can chat online privately with agency support personnel about their individual cases at other specified times.

The agency also keeps in touch with customers on social networking websites.

Compare that to navigating a voice mail menu only to eventually have a computer-synthesized voice count down your long wait to speak to someone who can help you …

Read more in this Cinncinnati Enquirer article: Online chat for public to learn more about child support.

New York is the last bastion of fault. In divorce law, that is.

New York is the lone US state that has yet to adopt “no fault” divorce, such as we have here in Florida.

But New York’s law may finally be poised on the cusp of change.

One chamber of the state legislature has passed a “no fault” bill.

All that remains is for the other chamber to follow through with it.

Current law in New York dooms divorce to be nasty or drawn out – and sometimes both. Impatient couples are pushed into perjury.

Now there is relatively widespread anticipation that “no fault divorce” will finally take in New York.

Concurrently with the proposed no fault legislation, other bills are being introduced to pave the way for less financially able spouses to receive court-ordered awards of attorney’s fees earlier in the case as well as temporary support awards, which will be calculated based on a newly established formula.

Both companion bills would help needy spouses both before and after filing of divorce cases.

Read more in this New York Times article: N.Y. Moves Closer to No-Fault Divorce.

Some divorces can start to get kind of expensive.

Take Husband’s.

He apparently owed his divorce attorneys roughly $500,000.

On top of that, he was also behind on his credit cards … and the mortgage on his multi-million dollar house in the Hamptons.

It’s also possible that he was going to have to pay some money to Wife.

He was likely feeling overextended, even overwhelmed by his obligations.

Now, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is reportedly charging him with duping investors with a false claim of ties to royalty, and then diverting over $6 million of their funds to pay his personal legal bills, credit cards and mortgage.

The SEC has also secured a court order freezing Husband’s assets.

If it succeeds, the SEC is looking to impose fines on, and extract restitution from Husband.

Husband has closed up shop now.

He reportedly has not retained counsel in the SEC case, at least not yet.

Read more in this Canadian Business article: SEC accuses money manager of fraud in investments claimed linked to royal family of Belgium and this New York Daily News article: Guy Albert de Chimay makes off with $6M, made bogus claim to be Belgian royalty: Feds.

Central Florida attorney (Stepfather) marries pregnant Mother and raises Son as though Son is his own child from time of Son’s birth here in Florida.

Mother, Son and Stepfather live in Florida.

Mother and Son visit Costa Rica once annually.

In 2004, Mother and Stepfather divorce.

In 2008, Son’s biological father (Father) files a legal case to keep Son in Costa Rica.

The Costa Rican court awards Father temporary custody of Son and orders that Son remain in Costa Rica.

This temporary ruling is upheld in higher Costa Rican courts.

Stepfather files a return application under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, asserting that Son was wrongfully retained in Costa Rica.

Frustrated by the slow progress of that case, Stepfather gets Son back to Florida using private third parties with military backgrounds.

Shortly before the final hearing is supposed to take place in Costa Rica, Stepfather and Mother secure Son’s return to Florida.

Mother and Stepfather are reportedly branded criminals in certain circles.

Father files in a Florida court for Son’s return to Costa Rica under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

Father’s Florida case is not about custody of Son, but about the place of Son’s habitual residence prior to Mother’s and Father’s removal of Son from Costa Rica and the proper jurisdiction to determine custody of Son.

Stepfather is litigating this case vigorously, having thus far lost his gambit to have it dismissed entirely.

Stepfather maintains that his legal paternity of Son was legally established in his divorce from Mother (not a Florida stepparent adoption proceeding). Based on that position, in the eyes of the law, Stepfather was already legally determined to be Son’s legal father here in Florida long prior to Father’s filing of any legal case asserting rights to Son.

But, regardless of the legislative intent behind the Hague Convention, it affords a legal remedy to persons with “rights of custody”, and is not strictly limited to biological or legal parents.

Further, Father counterargues that Stepfather and Mother fraudulently amended their divorce paperwork regarding Son after proceedings in Costa Rica were filed … and that Father had no notice of same.

Stepfather counters back that Father more or less abandoned Son for nine years, before filing in Costa Rica.

A sad and complex case …

Read more in this Ocala [FL] Star-Banner article: Battle for boy back in Ocala.

Australian Mother and Father conceive a child.

Their relationship is short-lived.

Father leaves the area.

Mother repeatedly attempts to contact Father, both through letters to his parents and letters to his new girlfriend.

Father, inferring that Mother is seeking child support, makes no response.

Mother is left with no option but to sue Father for child support.

But how can Mother serve Father if she can’t find Father (in the flesh)?

Well, in this particular instance, Father is active on the social networking site Facebook.

Under the circumstances, the Australian Court enters an order permitting Mother to have the elusive Father served with legal process via Facebook. The Court supports its ruling by simply acknowledging current technology in widespread use, and used in actuality by the intended recipient of service.

Shortly after Mother’s attorney forwards the legal documents to Father via Facebook, Father closes his Facebook account and also takes down his MySpace website.

Certainly sounds like Father has received Mother’s legal papers.

This case from Down Under should not be interpreted as approving electronic service of process in all US states or in all cases.

But it does go to show that, under the proper circumstances, in specific cases, courts are more and more likely to authorize service of process via e-mail and/or via social networking websites.

Read more in this Times of India news article: Legal notice can be sent via Facebook too and this University of Richmond Law School Law Review article: Superpoked and Served: Service of Process via Social Networking Sites.

Everyone knows someone (if not lots of someones) who can’t collect child support due them.

But there are people who don’t receive their child support because they simply fail to notify the child support agency in their community of a change in their address.

In one Texas county, payments to some one hundred fifty support recipients have been returned to sender.

The county has been able to whittle that number down to almost nothing now, but it took time and effort.

The remaining support monies that could not be delivered will soon be turned over to the state as unclaimed property.

Read more in this [Corpus Christi, TX] Caller-Times article: Child support sits unclaimed.

Ex is ordered to pay child support in divorce. But Ex isn’t paying.

You’ve tried wage garnishment. Driver’s license suspension. Liens on assets. Etc.

But Ex is still way behind.

What’s next?

Maybe it’s time for a different sort of enforcement mechanism.

Most Wanted Deadbeat Parents … a sort of Deadbeat TV.

The latest in a rash of reality TV shows.

Featuring parents who are not paying their court-ordered support.

Imposing what is arguably the harshest punishment for nonpayment: publicity.

At least that’s what the new television show’s producers hope.

Time will tell how this new enforcement remedy stacks up against more traditional statutory measures.

Read more in this [Moosic, PA] WNEP-TV 16 news article: New TV Show Targets Deadbeat Parents.

In China, divorce propels children to significantly greater incidences of juvenile crime than in intact families. A rate more than four times as much, in fact.

Perhaps recognizing the adverse impact of divorce there, Chinese parents tend not to divorce during certain pivotal stages of their children’s lives, such as preceding college entrance exams.

Such are the findings of China’s court system, which actively investigates the health and welfare of a couple’s children before granting a divorce.

In China, the family court may dismiss a divorce case if it concludes that the minor children of the marriage are particularly vulnerable to adverse impacts from the divorce.

Read more in this [China] Global Times article: Divorcing parents create teen crime.

Chinese Husband and Wife divorce.

Husband, a security guard, is still angry over the Chinese court’s division of property in the divorce.

Now, three years later, Husband goes back to the courthouse, armed with weapons obtained through his work.

Husband shoots everyone who crosses his path.

The chief judge, a deputy judge and a court clerk are all killed.

Three other courthouse personnel are wounded.

Then Husband takes his own life.

The story is squelched from Chinese media fairly quickly.

But not before public commenters have the opportunity to express sympathy for the shooter.

The legal system in China is reportedly not popular with the public.

Read more in this New York Times article: Bank Guard Kills 3 at Chinese Courthouse

A financial advisor offers some comprehensive life planning advice that is also well worth reading for anyone contemplatling divorce.

Acting upon this advice, especially having a premarital agreement based upon discussions inspired by it, could save substantial money and hostility in the event of a divorce.

Things to discuss and decide together:

1. who will be responsible for which debts and liabilities?
2. remember, even after the wedding, while there’s marital harmony, it’s never too late to come up with a postnuptial agreement, if desired
3. who will be the primary caregiver for the children?
4. will the primary caregiver take time off work? how long?
5. how will any needed daycare be paid for and chosen?
6. how will healthcare for mother and baby be paid for?
7. how much savings does the family need in case of emergency?
8. how will life insurance on the primary breadwinner be paid for?
9. how will the children’s college be paid for? when will you start saving for it?
10. do you need living trusts, medical powers of attorney, wills, etc?
11. will the person handling your final affairs be able to locate and access your safe deposit box and identify your accountant, financial planner, insurance agent, attorney, etc?

Divorce specific:

1. how should property be divided, so that each spouse receives sufficient liquid assets as well as not so liquid assets?
2. how can you give the children stability and continuity after divorce?
3. who will take care of the children most of the time? when will the other parent see the children?
4. how will the children be supported financially?
5. should retirement accounts, trusts, wills, etc. be updated to protect the children and reflect the change in marital status?

Read more in this Sacramento KCRA-TV 3 news article: Paying For Life: Marriage.

American Mother and British Father live with their Child, a US citizen, in Chile.

A Chilean family court awards Mother custody of Child in divorce.

The Chilean court also enters a ne exeat order barring Mother from removing Child from the nation of Chile without Father’s consent.

Without Father’s permission, Mother leaves with Child for Texas.

Father files in the US for return of Child to Chile under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

The federal trial court denies Father’s application, holding that the travel restriction does not confer custodial rights on Father which would afford him standing to file under the Hague Convention. Same result at the intermediate federal appellate court.

Father files for review by the US Supreme Court.

And the High Court holds that the ne exeat order does in fact confer a right of custody as that term is used in the Hague Convention, and that the ban on removal of the Child from Chile may be enforced under the Hague Convention by an application for return of the Child.

The Court did not rule on Child’s return, however, remanding for further findings of fact with regard to applicability of certain exceptions to return specified under the Hague Convention.

Read more in this UK Family Law Week article: US Supreme Court decides that ne exeat rights are ‘rights of custody’ and this National Law Journal article: International Abduction Treaty Trumps Parental Rights, Says U.S. Supreme Court.

The newest risky behavior of late has introduced a new term into our language: c-h-e-x-t-i-n-g.

“Cheating” via text message.

It has been practiced by several regretful celebrities … and many regular folks.

And like other technological wonders, it leaves both a visible and a hidden, but recoverable, electronic trail.

Which means that chexts may find their way into evidence in family court trials.

And inspire a lot of spying on significant others’ cell phones.

Read more in this Reuters article: Perils of “chexting” hit spotlight.

When the marriage hits the rocks, the wife is far more likely to be in the dark about the couple’s assets and income than the husband is.

Too often, the wife is inclined to settle quickly for what their husband will agree to give them in order to be done with the divorce quickly.

But they may later come to regret that.

A more prudent course is for women to acquaint themselves with their marital finances and collect copies of financial records before the divorce is upon them.

That can save a lot of time and money, and goes a long way toward ensuring a fair division of property.

In cases where there are sufficient assets and income in issue, the wife should have an accountant and a financial advisor on her divorce team with her lawyer.

In some cases, if necessary, it may also be worthwhile to borrow money if the Wife does not have sufficient liquid assts to meet her short-term living expenses and case expenses.

Read more in this Tulsa [OK] World article: Women often financially blind when divorcing.

From Northwestern Florida:

Mother and Father live separately. Their twelve year old Daughter lives with Mother most of the time.

Daughter and Father are in the middle of an argument on the phone over Father exercising timesharing.

Father arrives at Daughter’s home to exercise his timesharing. Daughter locks herself in a bathroom, to avoid timesharing with Father.

Father gains access to bathroom. Father picks Daughter up to remove her from the bathroom against her will.

Daughter begins to punch, kick and bite Father, drawing blood.

Daughter is arrested on battery charges.

Is something wrong with this picture?

Read more in this disturbing Northwestern Florida Daily News article: 12-year-old punches, kicks father.

Golden years divorce. It’s happening more and more.

For example, a high profile political couple just announced their impending divorce … after forty years of marriage.

And they’re not alone. Their peers represent the most rapidly growing population of divorcing couples.

Wives in that age range are more likely than not to be the instigators of their divorces. Aging divorcers are looking for freedom and control of their lives.

Most of this age group who seek new partners, find them. And, as a group, they don’t look backward.

Contributing factors include greater social acceptance of divorce, longer lifespans, greater wealth and greater emphasis on self-fulfillment.

Read more in this New York Times editorial: The 40-Year Itch and this collection of articles: Divorce: It’s Not Always About You.

Engagement ring. Wedding ring…

Divorce ring.

A new design – and social – concept.

Sometimes made from a wedding ring.

Why not?

A way of salvaging a beloved piece of jewelry.

A declaration of survival of divorce – and enduring family ties.

Often depicted by a gap in the ring’s circumference.

In these changing times, there are also rings for single people.

Signaling to the world that their wearers are happily, confidently single.

Interestingly, these message-conveying rings have led to more than a few dates with new acquaintances.

And, with the acceptance that relationships don’t last forever, there has emerged a marketplace for buying used engagement and wedding rings.

And specialty jewelry boxes to store the symbols of relationships that have gone by the boards.

So, there’s a ring (or jewelry box) for every occasion now.

Read more in this New York Times article: With This Ring, I Thee What?.

Collaborative divorce originated in the 1980s.

But it’s really come into vogue among divorce professionals over the last decade. Many involved divorce professionals enthuse about it.

An Illinois judge favors collaborative practice, but is disappointed that it hasn’t caught on in a bigger way. In fact, she has yet to see a single collaborative law divorce actually go through in her corner of the legal system.

And therein may lie the rub.

No matter how much divorce professionals embrace collaborative divorce, it’s had mixed reviews among clients.

For example, a doctor and his wife opted for a collaborative divorce. However, they eventually gave up on it.

But only after they ran up a large legal bill, with nothing to show for it. The doctor is now suing his collaborative attorneys.

The doctor’s civil litigation attorney characterizes collaborative practice as the “trend of the week”, discounting the need for a rigid, labeled process to amicably settle a divorce case.

He also hits the nail on the head with the observation that “[i]t takes two people to make it work and one to make it not work.”

Whether it’s collaboration, mediation, or any of the other flavors of the month of wanna-be amicable divorces.

Another couple wasted a year (and $35,000) before starting over from scratch with a traditional divorce with new attorneys. The husband there also felt that the collaborative professionals pursued unnecessary meetings, which drove up the bill. With no results.

One practitioner who has used the process in her own divorce from her husband suggests that the couple must basically trust one another for collaboration to work.

That may be the real Achille’s heel of collaborative divorce.

Read more in this Crain’s Chicago Business article: Collaborative law aims for a kinder divorce; how’s that working out?.