Families experience stress and conflict in preparing for and sorting out the transfer of assets when one member passes away.  There are legal influences, financial considerations and emotional elements.  Just as there are in divorce.   Can they benefit from the principles an application of Collaborative Practice? In September, 2012, a group of professionals, sponsored by Collaborative Practice Silicon Valley,  offered a training tailored to using CP in Trusts and Estates matters.  I had a chance to speak with two of the attendees to get their thoughts on this cutting edge expansion of CP.  Their excitement is pretty contagious, check it out...

There is an expectation to be transparent, honest, and candid during the collaborative process. It is also an opportunity, due to the safe and secure environment that is created,  to ‘drop bombs’ that might not ordinarily be communicated by the clients one-on-one. In this manner, the safety of the team can become a double edged sword as it can lead to sudden disclosures that rattle the structure and foundation of the process and challenge the team. Using real life situations, the Back from the Brink Workshop will explore the form and content of sudden disclosures and the strategies that can be employed by the collaborative team...

Dr. Gloria Vanderhorst, PhD, in this interview discusses some of the costs of divorce that are not always considered.   She includes references to how Collaborative Practice can help in reducing those costs, both financial AND secondary.   With thanks to the online radio program: Insurance Matters with Mindy Guisewite by Perfect World Network Radio Listen to internet radio with Perfect World Network Radio on Blog Talk Radio qw Gloria Vanderhorst, Ph.D. is a Licensed Psychologist with over 35 years of experi-ence. She is a trained mediator and Collaborative Divorce professional active in a number of professional organizations. She is...

“You do not perceive something until you have the right metaphor to receive it”                                  – Thomas Kuhn in The Structure of Scientific Revolutions Metaphors are powerful vehicles of communication.  They synthesize amounts of information into a single, unified package.  Perhaps less obvious, they encourage us to SCREEN OUT aspects of a phenomenon that DO NOT FIT with the chosen metaphor.  Such is the case with the metaphor we currently use to describe divorce and remarriage.  The current metaphors prevent us from seeing important aspects of the divorce/remarriage process and discourage us from moving...

The Ohio Rules of Professional Conduct remind us, that as attorneys we function not only as advocates in adversarial situations, but also as negotiators, evaluators and advisors.[1]  The Rules outline our affirmative duty to provide information reasonably necessary to inform clients or other persons seeking our advice of the advantages and disadvantages of proposed courses of conduct which includes discussion of the client’s or other person’s options and alternatives.[2]  The Rules also provide that it is our clients who determine the scope of our representation and that we must respect our clients’ decisions concerning the objectives...