Recent Articles

Speaking Up for Yourself

Dick Price
March 09, 2012 20:22

Communication is important in most aspects of life. That's true in both pleasant and unpleasant circumstances. We are all taught to speak up for ourselves in certain situations, but some people do so more easily than others. In Collaborative cases, it's very important to communicate your...

Finding a Job in the Midst of a Divorce (Preparation for Job Re-Entry)

Dick Price
February 23, 2012 00:13

For many people, getting divorced coincides with a sudden re-entry into the job market. There are a number of legitimate reasons why one party to a marriage has been out of work for a while. In long-term marriages, the period of unemployment is often many years. It may be because of staying home...

How to Set Meaningful Goals for Collaboration

Dick Price
February 07, 2012 05:55

When we set goals, the natural tendency, and the easiest approach, is to just make a list of the things each party wants, such as the house, a retirement plan, alimony, a savings account, $50,000.00 cash, control of a business, etc. Actually, in a Collaborative case, we want to approach goals...

The Benefits of Establishing Goals

Dick Price
February 03, 2012 14:12

Every year, at the first of the year, a tradition for many Americans, besides planning to lose weight, is to come up with a list of goals for the upcoming year. In Collaborative Law cases (all year long), we also start off each case with the process of the parties listing and clarifying their...

Why You Might Want Help in Negotiations

Dick Price
February 03, 2012 13:12

"Do it yourself" is a time-honored tradition for many things. Home improvements or repairs come to mind -- a good idea for a handyman, but not such a good idea for others, like me, without the talent and experience to know what to do or how to do it for projects above the basic level. On the...

Why We Use Interest-Based Bargaining

Dick Price
January 10, 2012 23:37

In Collaborative Law cases, we work hard to get the parties to establish and then focus on their goals, needs and interests. Negotiating with that perspective is called interest-based bargaining. One of the great advantages of Collaborative Law is the emphasis on goals, needs and interests. ...

Planning Ahead

Dick Price
December 17, 2011 17:13

Waiting to file until after the holidays. At this time of the year, I have noticed that quite a few people who are about ready to file for divorce have decided to wait until after the holidays. Every year, we get really busy in January and February filing new divorces because people want the...

10 Tips for Better Collaborative Communication

Dick Price
November 13, 2011 20:59

At all stages of a Collaborative Law case, communication skills are important. How you say something is often just as important as what you say, regardless of whether you are talking with your attorney, your spouse or one of the neutral experts involved. At the outset of a Collaborative case, you...

7 Tips on How to Tell the Kids

Dick Price
November 13, 2011 20:11

For good parents who are approaching a divorce, one of the hardest things to do is to tell the children that their parents will be divorcing. Some parents just blurt out the news without much thought, but others really struggle to figure out the best way to explain things so that they will not...

Seeking Equal Time with Kids -- Part 1

Dick Price
November 13, 2011 18:31

In both Collaborative divorces and litigated divorces, the phenomenon of a parent wanting equal time with the kids is becoming more common. Sometimes, both parents agree that it is an appropriate goal. In other cases, there is some disagreement as to how much time each parent should have. There's...