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| photo by DACshots | via PhotoRee |
A very happy (and safe!) Halloween from all of us at The Law Collaborative.
Pssst… Have you checked out our events page lately? Second Saturday Divorce Workshop is Nov. 12 and From Dating Through Divorce, a seminar with information that everyone with a family needs to know, is Nov. 15. Sign up now by calling us toll free at (888) 852-9961 or by visiting www.thelawcollaborative.com/events.htm.
In last week’s episode of Ron and Robert on Divorce, we heard the story of Helene Antel, a successful, powerful, ferocious district attorney who was the victim of domestic violence. It took her years, but she finally learned how to follow the very advice she routinely gave her clients. Once she learned how to do that, she was able to begin building a life of freedom for herself and her child. When asked what the turning point was that allowed her to start taking her own advice, she says it was when she achieved ambivalence.
Now, she finds herself moving away from litigated court cases because she doesn’t want to make war anymore. She wants to make peace. In her words:
“Violence only breeds violence. Respectful communication breeds solutions. You can get a resolution without all the hate, the fighting and the misery. It takes less time, and it takes a far less egregious toll on the participants.”
Listen now to part 3 of this fascinating series:
Missed the first two? Listen to Part 1 HERE and Part 2 HERE.
Don’t miss another one! Subscribe to Ron and Robert on Divorce on iTunes and download free podcasts weekly.
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| photo by only alice | via PhotoRee |
The 1996 Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was designed to make health insurance portable for employees, but it also imposed strict rules for the release of private medical information.
Healthcare providers, in efforts to comply with HIPAA, regularly refuse to provide family members with critical information about the medical conditions of their loved ones. The problem is, once disabled, a person may no longer be able to grant the necessary authorization. Abusive and neglectful caregivers have been known to hide behind these rules, while loved ones are denied recourse.
To help protect our clients, The Law Collaborative is offering to prepare and provide current clients in good-standing with a complimentary Advanced Health Care Directive, Living Will, Healthcare Power of Attorney, and HIPAA Authorization. Clients will also receive a wallet card and a complimentary one-year enrollment in a service that stores these important legal documents so that they can be accessed by medical professionals anywhere in the world in case of emergency. The wallet card also lists allergies, medical conditions, and provides a toll-free number for access to these critical documents.
We care about our clients and we want them to be protected when they need it most. To take advantage of this limited time offer or for further information on how you can control your property while you’re alive, care for yourself and your loved ones if you become disabled, and give what you have to whom you want, the way you want, when you want, call us toll free at (888) 852-9961 and ask about our HIPAA offer and free estate planning consultation.
Your legacy matters – take control of it now.
*This is a limited time offer to clients with current billing accounts and may be subject to change or revocation at any time without notice.
Best wishes,
Ronald Supancic, CFLS and Robert Borsky, Esq.
Partners at The Law Collaborative, LLC
All personal relationships, from casual dating all the way through marriage and the relationships we have with our children, are governed by the law. Unless you’re a hermit, at some point the law will intersect with your personal relationships. Join us on Tuesday, November 15 at 6:30 p.m. for a discussion designed to cover some areas which will be of concern to everybody attending, even those with perfect marriages and perfect children.
Attorney Ty Supancic will discuss how California’s 2000 page prenuptial agreement (aka the California Family Code) can be overcome with some advance planning by dating couples, designed to strengthen relationships before marriage so that the resulting marriage has a better chance of enduring.
Ty will present and discuss communication tools developed by mental health professionals to enhance relationships before, during, and after marriage. Powerful tools we can bring to bear in all of our relationships.
Even in the best marriage, the law is ever present. Ty will discuss and explain responsibilities couples have to each other, parents have to children, and parents have to the world. This includes child labor law, dealing with troubled children, and planning for your children’s retirement.
If you know someone whose marriage has fallen on hard times, Ty will discuss tools that can help save a marriage, or if it can’t be saved, may help the parties have the least destructive family reorganization possible with the fewest casualties and at the lowest cost.
Not only is divorce second only in stress to the death of a loved one, but it often results in financial disaster. It doesn’t have to be that way. Ty will discuss the seven options couples have if they decide their marriage cannot be saved. The options include creative solutions not considered by any court, which can minimize impact to children and the couple’s finances.
Ty will also discuss the process of dissolution in California. What procedures are required, what pitfalls and dangers might be encountered and how to avert them, and what measures can be taken to minimize the long-term impact. He’ll also discuss relationships after a final divorce decree.
The Law Collaborative takes a holistic view of family law: We realize that divorce isn’t the end. Relationships continue in one form or another, especially if there are children. Without this insight and without proper acknowledgment of this truth and careful planning, a divorce can destroy lives in the long term — solving nothing but creating many new problems.
Ty Supancic is an attorney with a perfect marriage and a perfect child, but that wasn’t always the case. Ty also has a decent sense of humor and will try to utilize it during this discussion. Questions are welcome, refreshments and handouts will be provided.
This seminar is open to the public. Licensed attorneys who attend will earn 1 MCLE Credit. The seminar is on Tuesday, November 15, 2011 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at our office in Woodland Hills. For more information or to register for this seminar today, please visit www.thelawcollaborative.com/events.htm
“All of a sudden, I changed from being the helplessly in love abused woman to the former district attorney. I looked at him and I said, ‘I’ve prosecuted guys like you. I know where this goes and it doesn’t get better. So this is the first and only time you are ever going to do this to me.’ Then I walked to the phone and I called 9-1-1.”
Helene Antel was a district attorney prosecutor and a ferocious advocate for her clients. But at home, she was someone else entirely. Listen to Part 2 of this electrifying story of a powerful, educated, skilled district attorney criminal prosecutor and how she survived and overcame her abusive marriage.
Did you miss the first part? Check it out HERE.
Subscribe to Ron and Robert on Divorce on iTunes and download free podcasts every week.
Save the Date for From Dating Through Divorce, an interactive presentation by attorney Ty Supancic of The Law Collaborative. Anyone contemplating marriage, children, or divorce, and those seeking a general overview of how the law relates to families, are invited to attend. Licensed attorneys who attend will earn 1 MCLE Credit. For more information or to register today, please call us toll free at (888) 852-9961 or visit www.thelawcollaborative.com/events.htm.
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| photo by s_falkow | via PhotoRee |
Across the nation, state court systems are facing severe budget cuts that may result in a delay of justice for many. Because so much of the budget of the court is personnel, staff reductions are one of the only options. California has been no exception. In their frantic effort to stem the tide of red ink in Sacramento, legislators have cut $350 million from the state court budget, with more cuts to follow. A local newspaper is calling it “Courtmageddon.”
For someone contemplating braving the courts to get a divorce, the news is grim. Twenty-five of San Francisco’s 63 Superior court chambers have been shuttered. Two hundred of 480 employees will be getting pink slips. “It will take a year and a half to get a divorce in San Francisco and to get a child custody order. If you file suit, we won’t do anything with your case for five years,” San Francisco Superior Court spokesperson Ann Donlan said. Unfortunately, Los Angeles County may not fare much better. Right now, it is common for a lawyer in Los Angeles to face an eighteen-month delay when filing an order to show cause. That can be catastrophic if the matter concerns custody of children, visitation, or any number of other sensitive issues.
Getting on with one’s life is paramount, and a lingering, costly battle in court is the last thing anyone wants. It simply stretches out the pain, multiplies the cost, and hurts your children.
However, there is a glimmer of hope. Collaborative Divorce offers a different, and less destructive, path to reconstituting the family. Ron Supancic, a seasoned litigator and expert in alternative divorce strategies, is recommending collaboration as a sensible alternative to the embattled and clogged state courts. The professionals and resources of The Law Collaborative can make the journey shorter, less traumatic, more equitable and leave more goodwill and cooperation than traditional divorce.
For more about the benefits of Collaborative Divorce, click here.
Former criminal prosecutor Helene Antel grew up in a low-income housing project in the South Bronx. It was a rough and ugly neighborhood where people did not treat each other with kindness. She knew, even as a little girl, that so much hatred was not normal. She remembers being eight or nine and flying with fists of fury at a burly, tattooed gang member because he was picking on a little fat kid. She’s had the heart of an advocate since she was small.
Helene is a lawyer in Alaska who recently made the decision not to litigate any more. Over the course of her impressive career, and with a little help from her personal life, Helene has come to the conclusion that most conflicts are the product of a misunderstanding, or the lack of a good translator. And so she doesn’t litigate, she translates. Through translation, she reduces conflict while increasing peace and understanding.
Listen as Ron and Robert interview Helen Antel, lawyer and peacemaker.
Like what you heard? Subscribe to Ron and Robert on Divorce on iTunes and download free podcasts weekly.
This is a risk of “traditional” divorce that doesn’t come up often. Traditional divorce doesn’t teach you to communicate with your ex spouse, but rather to have an adversarial relationship, where non-communication becomes the norm. If you think that’s fine, think about the following situation, involving two parents, two sets of lawyers, and one wise old judge.
The custodial parent moves and enrolls their child in a new school, but fails to communicate the details with the other parent, who comes to believe that the child would be walking home along dangerous, busy streets and coming home to an empty house. That parent files a temporary restraining order to prohibit the enrollment. The truth is that the custodial parent had in fact taken all concerns into account, and the child was at no risk. The non-custodial parent based their fears on hearsay, and the restraining order had no merit – so, after reviewing the evidence and the custodial agreement, the judge threw it out.
But, and this is a big one, he didn’t grant attorney’s fees to the custodial parent. Why not? The restraining order had no merit, after all. The judge decided that court was a poor substitute for a simple conversation. In effect, he punished the custodial parent, who was acting within their rights, for not pro-actively communicating with the other parent. Mediation or collaborative divorce can help avoid expensive and wasteful litigation not just at the time of the divorce, but years down the road.
On October 18th, The Law Collaborative is offering Tips, Tricks & Strategies for Divorce, a seminar that will provide tools for moving a stuck case forward, how to communicate effectively with a former spouse, tricks for negotiating even when negotiation seems impossible, and more. The workshop is $25 in advance or $35 at the door. Licensed attorneys who attend will earn 1 MCLE credit. Anyone contemplating or going through a divorce is invited to attend.
Register online at www.thelawcollaborative.com or call us toll free at (888) 852-9961.
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| photo by DavidErickson | via PhotoRee |
According to Time Magazine’s Hillary Brenhouse, it is no longer permissible in Tajikistan to divorce your wife by sending her a text message. In some traditions of Sunni Islam a divorce can be granted by uttering the “triple talaq,” which simply means the husband repeats the words: “I divorce you” three times. Apparently, Tajik men working abroad found that texting the triple talaq was just as effective, and much more convenient.
However, the sense that that this shortcut was just a bit too easy has been growing. Abdurakhim Kholikov, the head of the state religious affairs committee, issued a statement that delivering the coup de grace to a marriage by SMS was a breach of Islamic law, and plans to outlaw it entirely. In a nation where most marriages do not appear in the official records anyway, the talaq was a mere formality.
In other nations the triple talaq must usually be accompanied by arbitration and reconciliation. The practice had already been regulated or banned in Turkey, Tunisia, Algeria, Iraq, Iran, Indonesia, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Of course, in the US, divorce has never been so simple – or so arbitrary.
