Independent thinking
The ability to think outside the box is a skill that will serve your teen in almost all circumstances. This includes critical thinking, which must be fostered from a relatively young age. If you consistently impede your child’s ability to create their own thoughts and opin…
As part of any divorce, property must be divided between the parties. Washington law dictates how the courts go about making this division.
Nature of Property: Washington is a community property state, which means that property accrued during marriage is owned by both spouses, with the excepti…
Divorce is represented in the media and tabloids as unavoidably acrimonious and incredibly lengthy. If this sounds unappealing to you – try mediation.
The primary reason mediation is so successful is that you are engaging a neutral party (the mediator) in resolving conflict and facilitating co…
We are all on our phones 24/7 so why not add a few more apps to your home screen that could help you manage divorced life?
App – Two HappyHomes (similar to Our Family Wizard, my fave)
This app lets co-parents create calendars, store important medical information, share photos, and record …
Depending on the nature of your custody arrangement, it is likely that your children are required to split time between two houses. Things can get complicated when your child may not want to go to one house or another. This refusal can occur for a wide variety of reasons and it is important to un…
Everyone will not be happy
While you and your new spouse may be blissfully happy it is important to recognize that most of the other members of the family are probably not approaching this transition from the same emotional place. It is important to not only recognize this but also behave acco…
According to psychologists, many people stay in unhappy marriages out of fear or avoidance. If you are contemplating divorce, be honest with yourself about what is holding you back from making that decision. Are you worried you wont find another life partner? Are you worked about how you will fa…
Writing
All communication, no matter how trivial, should be done in writing. Email is preferable to text because email is easily searchable and can be accessed from a variety of different devices.
Commit to your parenting plan
Follow the tenants of your parenting plan. Treat your parenting pla…
Most of the time unsolicited advice is innocuous, but in the case of divorce, advice from well meaning but misinformed people can be harmful.
Encouraging acrimony
Especially if you feel slighted by your divorce, it is likely that those around you may encourage you to “fight” or be intenti…
Planning for summer two to three months in advance allows everyone in the family to prepare for, and enjoy summer with less stress, conflict and uncertainty.
Once the summer schedule is set, parents may still make requests of one another for schedule changes in order to take advantage of spontan…
