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Divorce and Legal Fees

HOW MUCH WILL THE DIVORCE COST

It is difficult to determine how much a divorce will cost. However, after reviewing the likely issues, your method for resolving those issues, and hearing your philosophy of the case, a lawyer may be able to give you a range of expected expenses. Controlling the expenses in a divorce, however, is no easy task. Many of the factors contributing to legal costs are outside of your lawyer’s control. The personality and philosophy of your spouse’s attorney can affect the ultimate path that your divorce takes. Additionally, the ability of the parties to cooperate and communicate may also have a significant impact.

WRITTEN RETAINER AGREEMENTS

Your attorney is required to provide you with a written retainer agreement identifying the costs and hourly fees that will apply to your case. It is important that you read this document carefully and ask questions regarding any unclear issues. Signing a retainer agreement does not mean that you cannot fire your lawyer or that your lawyer cannot withdraw from the case. You may change lawyers at any time. The retainer agreement, however, will memorialize the terms of your billing relationship with the attorney. Once you have signed the retainer agreement, it is a legally binding and enforceable contract. Always keep a copy of your retainer agreement for later reference.

FLAT FEES

Fees charged by lawyers can vary from state to state and county to county. You may find a lawyer who charges a fixed flat fee for motions after a divorce or for uncontested proceedings where the parties have reached an agreement. In such instances, the amount of work which must be performed by the lawyer can be easily determined. This is a favorable payment method since you will know at the outset the total cost of the proceeding which will allow you to budget accordingly.

HOURLY FEES

In most contested cases, you will find that lawyers will bill out their time at an hourly rate. Although rates vary, you may expect your lawyer to bill out services at an hourly rate between $75 and $250 per hour. Reduced hourly rates may apply to services that are performed by associate attorneys, paralegals, law clerks or legal assistants in your attorney’s office. Hourly rates are influenced by your attorney’s legal experience, reputation and the demand for his/her services.

MINIMUM FEES

Lawyers may also charge minimum fees for specific services that are billed out as part of the divorce proceeding. For example, drafting a Motion or a Petitioner may be billed out at a flat rate of $200. You should discuss with your lawyer any minimum fees that may be applicable to your case.

MINIMUM BILLING INCREMENTS

Your lawyer may also bill out services based on a minimum billing increment. For example, your lawyer may bill out his or her time in twelve minute increments or two tenths of an hour. That means for any service no matter how short, the lawyer’s time is rounded up to the nearest twelve minute increment.

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15 Short Funny Quotes for Humor Month

April is “Humor Month” and the very first day of this very month is loved by pranksters and jokers everywhere. To honor this comical time of year, we’re fondly revisiting fifteen short funny quotes that are sure to light smiles everywhere.

1. “The Internet is a great way to get on the Net.” ~ Bob Dole

2. “Ugliness is better than beauty. It lasts longer and in the end, gravity will get us all.” ~ Johnny Depp

3. “On cable TV they have a weather channel – 24 hours of weather. We had something like that where I grew up. We called it a window.” ~ Dan Spencer

4. “When choosing between two evils, I always like to try the one I’ve never tried before.” ~ Mae West

5. “A bank is a place where they lend you an umbrella in fair weather and ask for it back when it begins to rain.” ~ Robert Frost

6. “There’s no half-singing in the shower, you’re either a rock star or an opera diva.” ~ Josh Groban

7. “I’m astounded by people who want to ‘know’ the universe when it’s hard enough to find your way around Chinatown.” ~ Woody Allen

8. “Charlie Brown is the one person I identify with. C.B. is such a loser. He wasn’t even the star of his own Halloween special.” ~ Chris Rock

9. “The difference between genius and stupidity is; genius has its limits.” ~ Albert Einstein

10. “I never forget a face, but in your case I’ll be glad to make an exception.” ~ Groucho Marx

11. “People who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.” ~ Anonymous

12. “When I was born I was so surprised I didn’t talk for a year and a half.” ~ Gracie Allen

13. “If at first you don’t succeed, blame someone else and seek counseling.” ~ Erma Bonbeck

14. “My therapist told me the way to achieve true inner peace is to finish what I start. So for today, I have finished 2 bags of M&M and a chocolate cake. I feel better already.” ~ Dave Barry

15. “Procrastination is like a credit card; it’s a lot of fun until you get the bill.” ~ Christopher Parker

Here’s to a wonderful Humor Month! I hope you’ve enjoyed these short funny quotes. May your April be filled with laughter (and may you be lucky enough to have fewer April pranks played on you than you play on others). Remember, laughter is the best medicine and he who laughs loudest wins!

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PRINCE2(TM) History and Overview

I am often asked questions about the Prince2 methodology, so I thought I should jot down a few notes about it.

The project Management methodology PRINCE2 started life in 1975 as PROMPT2 (Project, Resource, Organisation, Management and Planning Technique) developed by Simpact Systems Ltd, a UK company. Four years later in 1979 PROMPT2 was adopted by another UK Company CCTA (Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency), now part of the Office of Government Commerce (OGC), who modified and renamed the methodology to PRINCE (Projects In Controlled Environments) in 1989, following input from around 150 European organizations, and used it as the standard methodology for all government information systems projects.

In 1996 CCTA released PRINCE2, as the standard methodology for managing all projects in the UK government

2005 saw the release of a significant update of the PRINCE2 documentation. PRINCE2 itself is actually in the public domain, so it is not restricted to a particular vendor, however there are many training organisations around to world to assist with accreditation.

There are two accreditation levels, “Foundation”, a one-hour multiple-choice exam, and “Practitioner”, a three-hour written exam. The Practitioner exam is open-book. Whist preparation courses are available around the world; they are not mandatory for attempting the exams.

Project managers often ask what the difference is between PMBOK (a guide to the Project Management Body Of Knowledge, the ANSI standard for project management, produced by PMI) and PRINCE2. You can think of it this way, PMBOK tells you what a project manager should know to manage a project successfully, PRINCE2 tells you what you should do.

There is often a misconception that PRINCE2 is applicable only to IT projects. Although that was the case in the early days, that is no longer true.

PRINCE2 is a process-driven project management method, but pne of its weaknesses comes from its a high degree of scalability and applicability of modules that it can lead to a project becoming what has been dubbed a “PINO”, a PRINCE In Name Only.

PROCESSES

The PRINCE2 methodology comprises forty-five sub-processes organized into eight high level Processes. Each process has key inputs and outputs, together with the specific objectives, activities and documentation:

1.SU Starting Up a Project

2.PL Planning

3.IP Initiating a Project

4.DP Directing a Project

5.CS Controlling a Stage

6.MP Managing Product Delivery

7.SB Managing Stage Boundaries

8.CP Closing a Project

SU – Starting up a project ————————– The project brief (charter) is formulated, including the outline scope of the project (what will be/not be included in the project) and its justification. This phase also appoints the team, and lays out the project management approach to be taken. Once this stage has been signed off by the Board, the preliminary project officially exists, but is not yet initiated.

Read more: PRINCE2(TM) History and Overview

Washington Divorce and Child Custody

Most people believe that child custody refers to which parent gets the children. In fact, custody refers to three parenting roles: The first is a question of residence. Where and with whom will the children live?

The second is a question of nurturance. Who will take care of the children on a daily basis? Who will see that they are fed, clothed, and otherwise nurtured?

The third question is one of guardianship. Who is in charge of the children? Who will make important decisions concerning their welfare? Custody is in other words, about parenting. Yet the term has come to stimulate fear and anxiety and to signal the disenfranchisement of one parent. The reason for this reaction is in the win/lose portrait of the adversary system. In the past when divorce was fault-based and trial labeled one of the parents as “guilt” a custody award to the winner gave that parent absolute power over the children. That power could be used to punish the other parent by cutting him or her off from the children.

Today, courts take a more benevolent approach to the issue of custody. Even when custody is awarded to one parent, the law requires the judge to protect the parental role of the other parent with adequate rights of visitation. Over the prior ten years, some states have altered their custody laws to eliminate the win/lose connotation of custody. Eleven states at this time and the number is growing, have adopted laws expressing a clear preference for joint custody, an arrangement in which the full parental rights of both parents are preserved and enhanced. Some states have gone as far as to abolish sole custody. Others have made joint custody a legal presumption. Washington State divorce laws do neither.

For now, the important thing to know is that as a couple you can negotiate any parenting arrangement you wish as long as the arrangement takes care of the children. How you label the arrangement is not important. You do not have to use the words “custody” and “visitation.” The most important thing is that you negotiate a parenting agreement that realistically reflects your strengths and needs and the needs of your children. If you can negotiate such an agreement and are able to live by it and be committed to it, the court will accept it with open arms. Judges do not like making decisions about your children and prefer that you can make them.

Three concepts you need to understand

sole custody: this refers to a custody arrangement in which one parent, the sole custodian parent, is essentially in charge of the child. Typically, the child live with that parent full time, except when visiting the other parent. The sole custodial parent has the exclusive right to make important decisions about the child and is the only legal guardian of the child.

Joint custody: this concept became popular in the late 1970′s and most states now recognize it. Joint custody means that neither parent is the sole custodial parent. Custody is literally with both parents. In a genuine joint custody arrangement, both parents share equally, parental rights and responsibilities. The children alternate their residence between mother and father according to a negotiated schedule, and both parents concur on important decisions.

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Advice for Couples Headed for Divorce After Bankruptcy

Staying married is tough. That’s one of the reasons so many people give up.

But staying together after a bankruptcy is really tough. Not only do you have your personal issues to work through, but you’re constantly getting conflicting financial advice that can put you deeper in the hole.

My wife and I made a promise early on in our bankruptcy that the “D” word wasn’t allowed to be uttered in our home.

It must have helped.

Although neither of us has been divorced, we were headed in that direction on a few occasions. There was the time in 1995 that Michele stayed in a hotel overnight without telling me where she was. That was a real wake-up call.

But what would I have done if divorce had ever been an option?

I would have started by reading Mistake 24 on page 47 in Do You Make These 38 Mistakes with Your Credit? Here’s what it says:

“A divorce decree does not change the fact that you are a co-borrower on a loan. What typically happens is a couple divides their debt with no regard for who is legally responsible for the debt. Each person is still responsible regardless of what the judge says.

You should also contact your lenders to determine what other options you have.”

As I said, a divorce decree doesn’t change the fact that you are responsible for any credit held jointly.

When you open joint accounts you and your partner sign a legally binding agreement holding both of you responsible for the account. The divorce decree is another binding agreement between two people who consent to divorce. It does not change previous agreements between you and other creditors.

It doesn’t matter to the creditor who actually made the charges (if it’s a credit card). It doesn’t matter who agreed to pay in the divorce decree. And it certainly doesn’t matter to the creditor that you’re getting a divorce. The creditor will try to collect from both borrowers.

A word to the wise, don’t sign a divorce petition until everything with your jointly held credit is worked out. Promises to fulfill at a later time or by a certain date can be overlooked and expensive to enforce.

What I mean by “worked out” is that all credit held jointly is closed, refinanced into individual names, or paid off to eliminate the debt.

“Worked out” does not mean that your ex-spouse has signed a promissory note or some other legal document promising to pay off debt.

An irresponsible or vengeful ex-spouse can wreak havoc on your credit rating for years after a divorce. It’s legal harassment in its truest form.

Bottom line: the best advice I can give you is…

…do not sign a divorce decree until all credit matters are resolved. Signing the divorce decree should be your trump card and a very good reason to make things happen your way.

What I’ve gleaned from divorced couples I’ve talked with is that they believe signing papers at the lawyer’s office resolves everything. It doesn’t.

You need to truly resolve matters, which, as I wrote above, means get your name removed from everything jointly held before you sign the divorce papers. That could mean refinancing, creating individual accounts, paying off debt, closing accounts, or whatever it takes.

The last thing you need are late payments appearing on your credit reports after your bankruptcy is discharged. A series of recent late payments can cripple your chances of getting low interest rates after bankruptcy and keep the dark cloud of bankruptcy hanging over your head well after it should.

If you plan ahead and pay close attention to credit accounts held jointly, you can ensure that your credit reports and FICO credit scores won’t get damaged any worse. This is something that your divorce attorney will never tell you about. It’s not their area of expertise. They simply don’t know what kind of impact a divorce will have on your credit reports and credit scores. And frankly, they don’t usually care.

When you’re married, it’s often easier to just make all accounts joint accounts. Many of us do it without even thinking. However, if you can both agree to have separate accounts in addition to your joint accounts, it can potentially save months and years of frustration for both of you if you do get divorced–or, for that matter, if there’s an unexpected death, disability or layoff.

Another situation where things can get sticky is when your ex-spouse files bankruptcy and you don’t. The creditors of jointly held accounts that your spouse filed bankruptcy on will come knocking on your door for payment…and eventually may push you into filing bankruptcy (if you haven’t already) regardless if the debts that the spouse filed on were in the divorce decree.

Be aware that your spouse’s negative narratives may appear on your credit reports and damage your credit. I talk about negative narratives on page 55 of Do You Make These 38 Mistakes With Your Credit?

Here are some credit tips to help you through a divorce:

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Washington State Divorce Legal Issues

People approaching Washington divorces are often surprised by the deficiency of clear rules. People ask their lawyers, ” How much alimony do I have to pay?” ”How much child support will I owe?” How long I will have to pay?” How much of my pension does she get?” With very few exceptions, Washington Divorce Online has found that the law itself cannot give you very precise answers to these questions.

Either you and your spouse will negotiate a settlement between yourselves or a judge will determine the arrangements for you. In Washington State divorce cases, there are now formal guidelines that the court must follow in awarding child support. However, on most issues, judges are unfettered to implement their own discretion after hearing evidence, and this discretion extends even to child support guidelines.

You take your chances when you and your spouse go to trial. It can be a roll of the dice. Most judges do their best to be fair and professional, but, like the rest of us, judges are susceptible to their own prejudices and biases. If you don’t like the judge’s decisions you will either learn to live with them or you can appeal to a higher court, but few people ever utilize the appeal process. Appeals are difficult to win because the burden is on the person making the appeal to prove to the higher court that the trial judge misinterpreted the law or abused the discretion permitted the judge by law. Even if you are one of the few who wins on appeal, all you get most of the time is a new trial. The only way to be sure that your Washington divorce meets your needs is for you and your spouse to negotiate the resolution yourselves.

When you negotiate your agreement, you negotiate a contract voluntarily. You sign it voluntarily. You cannot decide that neither of you will support your children, and you cannot subject your children to danger or neglect. But, within very broad limits you are free to decide together, how you will resolve the issues at hand.

Settlement arrangements are negotiated in the shadow of the law. That means, you negotiate with an eye on what you think would happen if you were to go to trial and let the judge decide. Experienced lawyers often think they can predict what would happen at trial. Washington State Divorce lawyers tend to develop a consensus or sense of industry standards about the results of trials. They may agree that the judges “always give the wife half the house” or ” a third of the husbands pension.” They might agree that in a particular case $200.00 a week for child support would be unlikely. Lawyers who have appeared many times before the same judge may acquire useful generalizations. Much of this may be true indeed, but the truth is that you cannot depend on it. You may get a particular judge, or you may get that judge on a bad day, or your lawyer may be wrong. Although most lawyers will sovereignly foretell the outcome in court, few will guarantee you the conclusion. You need to treat such predictions with healthy ske pticism.

Read more: Washington State Divorce Legal Issues

A Guide For Parenting Divorce

Divorce is a hot issue in today’s family system. It creates issues that affect not only the parents but the children and society as whole. Whatever the circumstances may be, it is the children that are usually most affected by the ravages brought about by separation.

Emotional repercussion and conflicts can be somewhat avoided if parents will work hand-in-hand to rebuild their relationship to as normal a state as possibe. While the marriage may have failed, it is important that the children sense at least a civil relationship between their parents. The children must maintain a relationship with both parents after a divorce, and it does no good for them to hear each parent degrading the other.

This attitude of cooperation can work very well, in theory, if both parents are committed for their children’s sake.

It is very important, after divorce, that the children do not feel left-out and forsaken as a result of the failed marriage. More often than not, parents fail to understand the importance of a good relationship after they call it quits.

Rebuilding “family” after divorce is difficult, but through sheer commitment and understanding, both parents should be able to raise their children with hope and respect.

Rebuilding A Broken Relationship

For most people, a broken relationship will remain “broken” no matter what. But, through the course of time, and perhaps some counceling, parents learn to realize the importance of working out a relationship with their children after the failed marriage, as well as with their ex-spouce. It is important for divorced parents to maintain a cordial attitude with one another, especially when around the children, or when discussing issues that involve the children.

Being Involved

The process of “rebuilding” a broken relationship is difficult when both parents, together with their children, no longer feel comfortable with one another. While difficult, there are a limitless number of activities you can actually do in order to help get your relationship back to an acceptable condition.

a. Cook Out – Meeting the needs of your children cannot be fulfilled by financial settlements and other monetary-related obligations. Inexpensive activities such as a family cookout is a sure way of soothing relationships and maintaining respectful treatment of one another.

b. Outdoor Activities – A day at the park, a day at the beach, or even a shopping trip with your children is a good way for each parent to promote individual bonding with the children. This type of activity provides an opportunity for the non-custodial parent to track school activities and progress, catch up on their childs relationships, as well as the childs overall health.

c. Movies – Going to the movies provides a fun atmosphere for both the divorced parent and the children. This is a great way to spend some one-on-one time togeather and should not be overlooked.

Read more: A Guide For Parenting Divorce

Know Your Rights Before Filing For Divorce

When you are standing at the altar saying “I do” with 300 of your friends and family around you, the very last thing on your mind is the possibility of a divorce in your future. Damn the statistics, it cannot happen to me, you think.

Think again. Recent studies have shown that the divorce rate is almost at the 50% mark for couple being married in the past 5 years. What is the cause of that? Are people being too reckless with their commitments? Do people really think that the love they feel will see them through anything?

The biggest problem leading to divorce is a lack of communication between the partners. It really is a partnership, where each needs to know what the other is doing and thinking on a regular basis, as in daily. You need to make sure that you are both marching to the same drummer with the same goals in sight, both short term goals as well as long term goals, and without that communication, divorce is almost inevitable.

Is this a difficult thing? It should not be, but in today’s world where most households have both spouses working, it can prove to be difficult. When both spouses arrive at home after a long hard day at work, both are tired, perhaps irritable, neither feels like fixing dinner, and communication can often be the last thing on either one’s mind. Yet if that communications does not happen, it is inevitably that the two of you will take different paths, start creating separate goals, and pretty soon you find that divorce is the only viable answer, since your paths have parted so widely that there is little chance your paths will ever rejoin.

Divorce can be a comparatively simple procedure or it can be long and drawn out. It is in your best interests to get a good divorce lawyer. Really? Yes really. If the communications between you and your spouse have broken down to put you on separate paths, you cannot be sure of what your spouse will require or demand in the divorce process. Make sure you do not get hosed in that process, and without a good divorce attorney, that can easily happen before you are even aware of it.

Things can get messy if children are involved or there is a fair amount of capital holdings that were acquired since the wedding day. But even these items can be negotiated and worked out with good divorce attorneys, plus the desire to “just get it over with peacefully” on the part of both spouses.

If divorce is really the best or only option available to you, plan it with the same attention to detail that you used when you planned your wedding. Preparation and a thorough knowledge of what is involved and what can be negotiated is paramount in making sure that you don’t walk away with absolutely nothing. Almost anything is negotiable as far as “who gets what”, but be very clear on what are your rights, what are the rights of your spouse, and how to effectively manage the division of assets, including cash, stocks, and bonds.

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California Divorce Documents-How Much Of My Private Life Will Become Public Record?

With all the celebrity divorces in the news lately and all the dirty details of their private lives being dragged out on their front lawns for everyone to see, it leaves one wondering, is anyone entitled to any privacy when it comes to a divorce? Many people come to our office knowing that their divorce will be less than amicable. They know their soon-to-be-ex will most likely be dishing out the dirt (whether true or not) of their relationship and they worry that private information will be made public through court documents. They want to know if ALL of the divorce documents will be made public, and if there is any way they can get divorce records sealed.

In California, all divorce and family law documents and proceedings are accessible to the public. However, there are a number of provisions within the California Family Code that authorize a court to close proceedings or seal certain documents. Below are a listing and summary of applicable sections.

• Section 1818 – Privacy of hearings; conferences; confidential nature of communications; closed files; inspection of papers: This section in general allows all hearings, conferences and court documents to be sealed and they may only opened to inspection by written authority from a family court judge.

• Section 2024.6 – Authorizing a trial court to seal pleadings that contain financial information: This section deals with sealing documents which contain information regarding the parties’ assets and liabilities including the location and identifying information about the assets and liabilities.

• Section 3025.5- Psychological evaluations of children; confidentiality; exceptions: This section allows the court to seal documents relating to psychological evaluations of children, and recommendations regarding custody or visitation.

• Section 3041.5- Controlled substances or alcohol abuse testing of parent seeking custody or visitation; grounds for testing; confidentiality of results; penalties for unauthorized disclosure: This section provides for confidentiality of results of drug and/or alcohol testing of a parent seeking custody or visitation.

• Section 3177 – Confidentiality of proceedings: This section relates to confidentiality of mediation proceedings.

• Section 3552 – State and federal income tax returns; submission to court; examination and discovery: This section allows the court to seal tax returns if they are retained by the court due to their relevancy to the case.

• Section 7613- Natural father of child conceived by artificial insemination; conditions: This section allows the court to provide confidentiality to a man who donates his semen for use in artificial insemination of a woman who is not his wife.

• Sections 7643 – Hearing or trial in closed court; papers and records; inspection: This section allows the court to conduct a proceeding without the admittance of any person other than those necessary to the action or proceeding.

• Section 7884- Admission to proceedings: This section allows the court to deny the public access to a hearing in which termination of parental rights are being considered.

• Section 9200- Inspection of documents; authorization; fee; deletion of identification of birth parents; certificate of adoption: This section allows the court to provide confidentiality to the birth parents in the case of an adoption.

It is important to understand that having records sealed is not necessarily automatic, as there is a competing public right to have access to court records and proceedings. Nevertheless, it never hurts to ask!

Read more: California Divorce Documents-How Much Of My Private Life Will Become Public Record?

Joint Bank Accounts And The Problem Of Divorce

If you are in the unfortunate situation of getting divorced, then you may be wondering how to sort out your joint bank accounts. Whether the divorce is amicable or not, it is important that you both agree on how to split the monetary funds in your joint accounts so that you both get a fair deal. Here is some advice on how to handle joint bank accounts and the problem of divorce.

Freezing accounts

If you ware worried about funds in the account being removed, then you can get a freeze placed on the account which requires both parties to give permission before any money is removed. Although this may be a good temporary solution to avoid money being removed, it will obviously harm both of you if no money can be released. However, it is a good point to start from and ensures that the account remains untouched and there is motivation on both sides to solve the situation.

50/50 split

If the divorce is amicable and you feel that you are both of an equal financial standing, then the easiest way to sort out the problem of joint accounts is for one person to open a new account and deposit half of the money into that account. The other partner can then change the joint account to a single account, thus leaving each of you with half the money in the account. This is the quickest and easiest way to sort out any problems, but is not always possible if you are of different financial standings and an agreement cannot be reached.

Don’t leave the situation

Although you might think the situation will sort itself out, if your ex partner removes all of the money from the account and liquidates it without your knowledge, you could be left in serious financial trouble. Although you should be able to get the money back through the divorce settlement process, this could take months and leave you short of funds in the meantime. Whatever you do, make sure that you don’t just leave the situation to sort itself out.

Credit cards

If you hold joint credit cards, then it is important that you cancel your card and inform the bank in writing that you want to be removed from the credit card account due to impending divorce and that you will not be held responsible for any extra debts that are accumulated. Obviously, you will both still be responsible for any current debts, but make sure that anything your ex partner spends is not your concern. This applies to other bills such as phone bills etc.

Safety deposit boxes

Perhaps the hardest type of joint monetary asset to control is a safe deposit box. If one or both of you is self-employed then you might keep money in a safety deposit box. If you get divorced then there is no stopping one of you from emptying the box and leaving the other person with nothing. As soon as divorce is a possibility you should try and get the box frozen so that neither you nor your partner can access it on their own. If your bank won’t comply then take photos of the contents and get someone to sign it to confirm the contents in case they are removed. If you can remain civil with each other and take the necessary precautions, then you can both end up with the right amount of money from your joint accounts should divorce occur.

Read more: Joint Bank Accounts And The Problem Of Divorce

Divorce Legal Forms

Divorce is a very important issue for a family person. It not only involves the lives of the couple, but perhaps more importantly, the lives of their children, who are sometimes of a tender age and cannot easily reconcile with the new situation. Responsible parents should, therefore, think of the welfare of their children before taking such a drastic step.

However, if you have taken an irrevocable decision to part ways, it is natural to initiate the legal process, the first step of which is filling out the Legal Forms for filing the lawsuit in the court.

Now unfortunately, it may happen you are short of funds to consult a lawyer, whose heavy fees may burn a deep hole in your pocket. So the cheapest course in such circumstances would be to go shopping for Legal Forms and make your own effort to start the proceedings. Legal Forms are easily available from stationery or bookstores in your local market. They are also available from law firms.

The easiest way, however, is to surf the Internet, which offers innumerable sources for such forms. You can get them free of for a low price. The word ‘free’ attracts those who are short of funds. But a form delivered free may be outdated and incompletely formatted, or may just be irrelevant to your state or the time. Even the paid ones may be fallacious.

Get the form and, before rushing to fill it, go to your local law center or library and get the latest official version of the form. Still better, you can approach your local law court clerk and ask for the form, which can be supplied either free or at a nominal cost. It is always advisable to consult an expert lawyer in such crucial matters as divorce.

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Stop Divorce 101- How To Cope When Your Spouse Wants a Divorce

Things often fall apart, and the center cannot hold, in the words of Yeats; this rings especially true with marriage. The issue of stopping divorce is a tricky subject to touch on, because, more than problems, it involves one spouse who wants a divorce and another who doesn’t. Essentially one person wants to continue a relationship and the other doesn’t; however, there are shades of gray, and that’s where professional help comes in. The first thing to do in this situation is to seek professional help, both legal and otherwise. Talk to your spouse and see if they will agree to marriage counseling; if they won’t, offer a period of separation so they can figure themselves out.

If they do agree to counseling, make sure it’s with a reputable person who has helped others in your situation. Counseling can help tremendously in many ways. Perhaps it will help you identify problems you weren’t aware of, solve issues that have hounded you for years, or simply get a better idea of what’s going on in your spouse’s head. This can be the greatest help in coping when your spouse wants a divorce and you don’t. And perhaps after, you’ll find out you were holding on for all the wrong reasons and agree to the divorce. However, no matter what happens, you will have a better idea of where your spouse stands.

If your spouse still wants a divorce after counseling, don’t draw it out. Be aware that though counseling helps in many cases, in others, it doesn’t, and that’s when it’s time to let go. While it may be tempting to try and hold on as long as possible, it just isn’t healthy, especially of you have children.

Most of the time, stopping divorce from going through just isn’t possible; you can delay it and go to what’s called a ‘grounds trial’ to try and prove there are no grounds for divorce, but the simple fact remains that your spouse wants a divorce and you don’t. This begs the question of whether you really want to stay with someone who doesn’t want to be with you.

Of course, nothing is ever that cut-and-dried, and that’s why seeking professional help is the best way to cope with this situation. If possible, get both couples and individual therapy; it’s not cheap, but so worth the tremendous amount of anxiety and heartache you’ll either avoid or learn to cope with.

Read more: Stop Divorce 101- How To Cope When Your Spouse Wants a Divorce

Murder, Policies and Procedures

On a recent Sunday, the Philadelphia Inquirer shocked our local community by stating the obvious: “Even after the carnage at an Amish school in Lancaster County last week, a spot check by Inquirer reporters found a surprising number of security lapses at schools across the region. In spite of rules aimed at limiting public access, reporters who fanned out on a single day walked into more than a dozen schools unannounced and without being challenged.” Schools Caught Short on Security, The Philadelphia Inquirer, October 8, 2006

Many people think that security is the security manager’s issue. However, on a recent blog post, I stated: “You can’t rely on your employees and consultants to use common sense when it comes to your company’s security. Remember to continually communicate the boundaries of permission to remind everyone that safety and security are team issues.”

In the case of the school security breaches, well-meaning teachers and students, as well as hapless employees and contractors, provided unauthorized and unsupervised access. Luckily, the intruders were reporters; there were no casualties other than reputations and peace of mind.

In order to understand why this security lapse is particularly astonishing at this time, here is the background for those who don’t live in Pennsylvania and may not know: A gunman had recently invaded a one room Amish schoolhouse, killing 5, severely injuring 5, and traumatizing the whole community. Subsequently, the often repeated message has been, if this can happen at that one room schoolhouse in the middle of the countryside in a peace-loving community, it can happen anywhere. We should step up efforts to keep our kids safe because of the high likelihood of copycat crimes.

These security lapses occurred at a time of heightened security. If a murderer had come sneaking in the side door, the consequences would have been very deadly. While most of us don’t have to worry quite this much about our policies and procedures, it made me stop and think.

There were policies in place at all of the schools. Some of the policies were better than others, but each had security policies. When questioned, school authorities stated that there were policies that were not followed. For some reason, it seemed as though some felt that this settled everything, though I was left with many questions: * Are the procedures written in light of actual practices/are they practical? * Who is responsible for verifying that policies and procedures are followed? * How is accountability ensured? * What is the personal consequence of causing a security breach? * How are the policies and procedures communicated, and how can we be sure that the involved parties understand them? * What are you doing to make sure that these kids are safe, both now and in the future? * How are updates communicated?

You can use these questions to consider the effectiveness of the security policies and procedures for your business as well. (There are many kinds of policies and procedures; this discussion focuses on security.) Many people view policies and procedures as an unpleasant set of paperwork that is at times needed for regulatory or legal reasons. However, policies and procedures should be meaningful roadmaps to better business practices.

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Divorce & Alimony: Understanding The Different Types Of Support Awards

By definition, alimony is a specific amount of money ordered by a court to be paid by one spouse to the other. The term of payments can either be limited or indefinite and, traditionally, was designed to be paid by the husband to the wife. Historically, men were expected to support their families while women became homemakers. Today, everything has changed. With women now being a staple in the workforce, the courts have employed a new alimony-award system. Alimony, often referred to as maintenance, can now be granted to either spouse and is largely based on economic need.

Whether you are seeking or being pursued for alimony, it is important to understand the different types and what they mean to you. Permanent alimony, which does still exist, is typically granted only if the awarded spouse is unlikely to gain employment in the future. Temporary alimony, on the other hand, is granted on the basis that the receiving spouse simply needs help in maintaining a certain quality of life throughout the divorce process. One example would be a marriage separation where one spouse immediately vacates the household and leaves the other to pay the mortgage and all other household expenses. In this case, a temporary alimony award may be granted, during the course of a marriage separation, in an effort to allow the receiving spouse to get back on his/her feet financially prior to the actual divorce being finalized.

Rehabilitative alimony is considered to be a short-term support award and can range anywhere from several months to a few years. This type of support is not permanent, but rather is designed to help the receiving spouse ‘rehabilitate’ themselves into the workforce so that he/she can earn a living through gainful employment. This type of alimony is common if the spouse is temporarily unemployed, but is later expected to return to the workforce.

If you are currently dealing with alimony, as either the provider or recipient, a professional divorce attorney specializing in this area can offer powerful divorce advice. Finding the right divorce lawyer will involve discussing your case and the financial issues surrounding your case. When it comes to alimony, the court’s main focus is one spouse’s ability to pay the other. If a situation arises where one spouse is unable to afford payments, he/she must be able to provide proof to the divorce court through a full disclosure of finances. Divorce lawyers are essential in providing advice on divorce and how current divorce laws may affect your case. In some instances, couples can reach an agreement on alimony through divorce mediation. During this process, a neutral third-party will work with the couple to reach an amicable arrangement in all aspects of a divorce proceeding without a lengthy litigation.

As a final thought to alimony, it is important to realize that no two divorce cases are alike. If you want to find the best divorce lawyer for your individual needs, take the time to speak with several divorce attorneys in your area who specialize in the dissolution of marriage. Even if you plan to proceed with divorce mediation, having a divorce lawyer may help to protect your rights. When it comes to needing valuable divorce advice on important financial matters, hiring a qualified divorce attorney may be money well-spent.

The information contained in this article is designed to be used for reference purposes only. It should not be used as, in place of or in conjunction with professional legal advice regarding divorce, alimony and/or divorce laws. If you are in need of divorce advice or are considering a marriage separation, consult with a professional divorce lawyer in your area for further information and/or divorce advice.

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