Telling The Children
Nancy Hudgins, Debra Synovec 11/03/2008
Keep your children from feeling they have to choose! How parents tell their children about the divorce sets the stage for how the parents will co-parent in the future and has a significant impact on whether the children thrive………no matter what you do legally, both of you will continue to be parents.

The Best Interests of the Children
Nancy Hudgins 10/27/2008
We encourage parents during divorce to put their children first. This can be hard to do when you are in the middle of conflict. It reminds me of a cartoon in which a guy is standing on a sidewalk and there’s a sign above him with an arrow pointing down to where he’s standing which says: “In the Thick of It.”

If They Can Do Parenting Plans, They Can Do Child Support Plans
Stephen Erickson 06/17/2008
Many states have implemented deviations from child support norms to address inequities resulting from the strict application of child support guidelines. When these changes are evaluated as a whole, they reveal that an alternate approach of child support planning is needed.

The Best Interests Of The Child — Peace More Important Than Being Right
Arnold W. Zeman 06/15/2009
Justice Harvey Brownstone serves on the North Toronto Family Court and is the author of Tug of War: A Judge’s Verdict on Separation, Custody Battles and the Bitter Realities of Family Court. Below is a 16 minute video clip of an interview of him on TV Ontario’s The Agenda – With Steve Paikin.

Blended Families: Protecting Children The Second Time Around
Dr. Lynne C. Halem 10/06/2008
Second marriages are a time for new beginnings, dreams of romance and adventure may abound. Then, too, there are the concerns. Most disturbing of all are the worries that center around entitlements of children.

Frequently Asked Questions about Children and Divorce
Paula Levy 07/07/2008
This article addresses the challenge of communicating with children about a divorce.

Co-Parenting After A Divorce—Tips From A Mediator
Brian James 07/13/2009
Co-parenting starts the day the decision is made to divorce has been made. Even the most amicable divorces need a plan for future co-parenting. Putting your children's best interests first, no matter how much you may dislike their other parent, is the key to co-parenting.

How To Resolve Parenting Disputes
Arnold W. Zeman 06/22/2009
We recently featured a video clip of an interview with Justice Harvey Brownstone of the North Toronto Family Court in which he brought to life the principle of acting in the best interests of the child. Here now are his 10 tips for success in resolving parenting disputes from his book, Tug of War: A Judge’s Verdict on Separation, Custody Battles and the Bitter Realities of Family Court:

‘Bad Dad’ Emerges As Better Dad’
Arnold W. Zeman 10/19/2009
The text below is taken from vol. 1 issue 2 of”Conflict Chronicles” of October 15th, an email newsletter published by the Conflict Resolution Center of the University of North Dakota:

Don't Get Lassoed!
Debra Synovec 08/24/2009
You are the best alternative to a litigated solution. Traditional litigation can make you feel like you have been hung out to dry.

Run Toward Fear
Debra Synovec 08/17/2009
People in the midst of divorce are often extremely overcome with fear caused by the overwhelming change in their life. Pressure from fear of the unknown, triggered by questions such as: “How will the divorce affect the children?” “How will I survive financially?” “What will people think?” “Where will I live?”, coupled by anger and raw emotions, drives people to run away, looking for a place to “solve” the questions and expunge the fear. In their flight, divorcing clients regularly run to attorneys, hoping to be saved by the courts, only to find out that the situation then spirals even more out of their control, magnifying the fears, stress and trauma.

What is Marital Mediation or Mediation To Stay Married?
Angela Ioana Green 08/13/2009
Mediation to Stay Married (also known as Marital Mediation) is a mediation process for couples who are experiencing marital problems or difficulties and who would prefer to stay together, work through their issues in a constructive way, who are willing to learn to resolve conflict and who wish to avoid divorce.

Marital Mediation: An Emerging Area Of Practice
Susan K. Boardman, John Fiske, Laurie Israel, Ken Neumann 05/18/2009
This article describes the process of “Marital Mediation” as a relatively new field of family mediation, designed to keep couples together using established family mediation techniques. Previously many of these techniques were used solely in divorce mediation. We begin by describing what the process involves, how it differs from both couples counseling and divorce mediation, and why we believe it often works for couples when counseling has not. We also discuss suggestions for promoting the development of Marital Mediation using both research and marketing techniques.

Book Review: The Healthy Divorce: Keys to Ending Your Marriage While Preserving your Emotional Well-Being
Joan B. Kelly 04/10/2009
This book is an updated version of Between Love and Hate: A Guide to Civilized Divorce, originally published in 1992. At that time, I was troubled by the continuing portrayal by the American media and movies of American divorces as destructive, poisonous, hateful processes and behaviors reminiscent of War of the Rose, and widely recommended Lois Gold’s book to mental health and legal professionals and separating partners and spouses to educate them about a better way to separate and divorce.

Marital Mediation For Family Mediators
John Fiske 04/07/2009
If you are a family mediator, you might expand your practice to offer mediation to help couples stay married. The process, called “marital mediation,” uses the specific settlement focus of mediation to preserve a marriage in ways not attempted by family therapy. The process uses your family mediation skills to help couples negotiate new terms for their marriage. Couples may use mediation to enter into a written post-marital contract defining their own solutions.