Do Children of Divorce Need Counseling? In my practice, I regularly suggest counseling for the children of parents in conflict because, when the parents are so embroiled in their own conflict or pain, they are sometimes unable to recognize their children’s emotional needs in the way that they need to. When any of us are in deep conflict or pain, we revert to our more primal reactions … [Read more...]
Divorce Poison and Dr. Richard Warshak
Understanding the Trauma and Permanent Damage Bad-Mouthing can cause in a Divorce In 1993, I had a case where the mother, who had chosen to have a career that forced her to commute every day, thought that because she was the mother of the child, she basically had divine right to move the child away from the town where the father lived. The father had chosen to stay in a local (and lower … [Read more...]
What happens in Texas if you die without a Will?
If you die without a Will, what happens? One of my colleagues says, “Texas writes one for you.” What he means by that is that the Texas Estates Code determines how your property will be divided if you do not indicate your wishes in a formal Will. For the vast majority of people, doing a Will is inexpensive and simple. But if you die without one, what would have been simple, may … [Read more...]
How to Start Your Marriage Off Right
Considerations for A Pre-Nup (called Pre-Marital Agreement in Texas) People don’t usually think about using the Collaborative Law Process for crafting their Pre-Marital Agreement, but I think it’s much better than the traditional way of negotiating these agreements. The traditional way for a Pre-Marital Agreement is for one side to go to their attorney and ask their attorney to draft … [Read more...]
Camille Milner Emcees Collaborative Luncheon
Milner Hosts Collaborative Law Institute of Texas’ 10th Annual Collaborative Law Luncheon in San Antonio Earlier this month, Camille Milner, President-Elect of the Collaborative Law Institute of Texas, served as Emcee for the Collaborative Law Institute of Texas’ 10th Annual Luncheon at the State Bar of Texas Advanced Family Law Course in San Antonio. Each year, at the Institute’s luncheon, … [Read more...]
Camille Milner in “Best Lawyers in America”
Denton Attorney Camille Milner has been listed in the latest edition of Best Lawyers in America. Milner is a longtime Denton resident and a graduate of both the University of North Texas and Denton High School. For more than three decades, Best Lawyers in America has been compiled by conducting exhaustive peer review surveys in which tens of thousands of leading lawyers confidentially evaluate … [Read more...]
Why is Collaborative Divorce Information Gathering Better than Discovery in Litigation?
Courts in Texas now require that each party in a marriage complete a sworn Inventory and Appraisement, disclosing the assets and liabilities in their marital estate. Clients often wonder if information gathering in a Collaborative Divorce is as good as or better than the Discovery Process in litigation. Cost Comparisons: In the litigation process, there is often an in-depth investigation of the … [Read more...]
Learning to Manage Emotions
Learning to Manage Emotions Is Important For Every Age Collaborative Divorce Helps Family Members Learn How to Deal with Their Emotions so They Heal Rather than Have Deeper, Lifelong Wounds The following is an article that was posted by Bill Eddy's www.HighConflictInstitute.com. Bill Eddy, who is both a social worker and a lawyer, has helped thousands of people worldwide learn how to manage … [Read more...]
Considerations for the “Gray Divorce”
My good friend and collaborative colleague, Tracy Stewart, CPA, recently wrote an article that was published in the Chicago Tribune about considerations in a “Gray Divorce.” More and more, those of us who handle divorce are seeing couples who are over the age of 50 seeking a divorce. They have distinct needs to their age bracket, including how to manage financially until their largest asset, often … [Read more...]
The Effect of Negative Emotions in Deal-Making
As family lawyers, we live our daily professional lives in a pool of client emotions, both our own clients’ emotions and their spouses’ emotions. We regularly turn to mental health professionals to help us and our clients manage those emotions. It is interesting to note, in addition to data from psychological resources, that the Harvard Program on Negotiation recognizes the negative effect that … [Read more...]
