Category Archives: Legal Matters

… feature articles related to working with attorneys, Friend of the Court (“FOC”), litigation, the adversarial process, and all other aspects of the judicial system, as well as child custody matters, legal separation, and Judgement of Divorce “(“JOD”) entries

Does marriage fulfill the “meeting of minds” legal standard?

Posted on September 30th, 2009

As I am not a lawyer and don’t play one on TV, it is with great reluctance that I pull out my Black’s Law Dictionary for divorce-related matters. But it seems some sort of an accountability must be found to the increasing number of married folks who come to divorce practitioners in utter amazement at [...]

Posted in Blind Spots, Communication, Legal Matters, Prenuptials, Relationships | Tagged as: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Game-playing in divorce negotiation: “Controlling the Contract”

Posted on September 10th, 2009

This is the last of “The Top Twenty Tactics of Strategically … Difficult People” that we’ll address here on the Michigan Divorce Negotiation Blog. The thing about divorce agreements, and, to the amazement of many, even most Judgments of Divorce, is that they still have to be written up by either your lawyer or your [...]

Posted in Blind Spots, Control, Emotions, Legal Matters, Negotiation | Tagged as: , , , , | Leave a comment

Game-playing in divorce negotiation: “Outrageous Behavior”

Posted on September 6th, 2009

Okay— confession time: This approach to divorce discussions annoys me the most. The person who employs this tactic (or simply indulges one’s self in it as an instinct or habbit) has no respect for the process, lacks sympathy for anyone in divorce, and is exploitive at base. The Bullies, Tyrants, and Impossible People description for [...]

Posted in Emotions, Legal Matters, Negotiation | Tagged as: , , , , | Leave a comment

Advocacy evidence is ultimately self-compromising

Posted on August 17th, 2009

“I have seen advocacy evidence introduced in … divorce and child custody cases,” writes Richard J. Gelles, Ph.D., Dean of the School of Social Policy & Practice at the University of Pennsylvania. I cringe every time I hear this, as I know it compromises the ability of the finder of fact to actually find the [...]

Posted in Communication, Conflict, Legal Matters, Parenting / Co-Parenting | Tagged as: , , , , | Leave a comment

Have you thought about what your affiliations reveal?

Posted on August 12th, 2009

An associate of mine who facilitates a divorce support group is also a “Friend” on Facebook. Last week, I was sitting in on one of her get-togethers to assist with a challenging participant situation. And as facilitator, she weighed in with a rather personal story of her own at one point, to make an empathetic connection. By [...]

Posted in Communication, Consequence, Legal Matters, Support Groups | Tagged as: , , , , | Leave a comment