Tips for Being a Stepparent

1.  Start Slow–There isn’t an article out there on this subject that doesn’t begin with this cautionary admonition.  When you first come on the scene with your new stepchild, your first role is to be another caring adult in his or her life.  Every child can benefit from that, but it takes time for relationships…

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How Mediation Can Help You Avoid 7 Big Financial Divorce Mistakes

Eric Sandberg wrote, “Seven Big Post-Divorce Money Mistakes” for Fox Business.  The following are the ways mediation can help you avoid those mistakes. 1.  If your mortgage or credit card is in both parties’ names, then your lender will sue both of you if it’s not paid.  Your Agreement should address which of you will…

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The New Generation – A Friendly Divorce is Not an Oxymoron

The current generation of young couples, Generation X, is the generation of children of divorced parents.  Increasingly, these young couples are making different choices as the generation who come from divorced parents.  They want to do better or somehow not make the same mistakes their parents made.  When I was doing research for another blog…

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Forgiving Ex-Spouse For Your Happy Future

“Anger is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.”  What a wise and profound saying–although saying it and living it are two very different things.  Although contemporary divorce law no longer considers fault and blame while dividing assets and calculating support payments, the pain, shame and blame are very real. Sometimes the…

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Help for Upside Down Mortgages

So many of the couples who I’ve been working with lately are finding themselves upside down on their mortgages.  For those of you who aren’t familiar with the term, being ‘upside down’ means that you owe more to the lender on your mortgage than your home is currently worth.   The refrain I often hear is…

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