by Nancy | Mar 19, 2018
You’ve decided to end your relationship and I’m sure it took a great deal of soul-searching, endless talks with your support system and, finally, the most difficult conversation of all — telling your partner. Now what? Obviously, there are many...
by Nancy | Mar 14, 2018
I’m no expert on parenting (other than to say I had two good ones). This topic is timely for me, however, because it seems to be a common thread in my mediation practice. Co-parenting after divorce can be a slippery slope. It requires two people who are no...
by Nancy | Mar 7, 2018
As a divorce Mediator, I listen to couples whose complaints about each other run the gamut from infidelity to hoarding to gambling to laziness. It’s a good thing I’m trained to be neutral and non-judgmental, because a lot of this stuff can be pretty...
by Nancy | Feb 28, 2018
In the past few weeks, I’ve repeated that statement enough times that I consider it to be a sign for me to write about it. Caring for an aging family member is becoming more and more common. We’re living longer but not necessarily better. In a perfect...
by Nancy | Feb 21, 2018
As if the 50% failure rate for first marriages isn’t horrible enough, the failure rate of second marriages rises to a staggering 67%. You’d think after one divorce, we’d be better equipped to make a success of the second marriage. So, what’s...
by Nancy | Feb 14, 2018
I recently had a conversation with my happily-married niece. It kind of went like this: Me: What are you doing to celebrate Valentine’s Day? Her: Nothing. It’s a stupid holiday. Me: Why do you think it’s stupid? Her: Because we don’t need a...
by Nancy | Feb 7, 2018
Awkward situations can be momentary, like honking your horn at the guy in front of you, and then sitting next to him at a business lunch. That’s not the subject of this article. What I’m talking about here are those awkward situations that are more ...
by Nancy | Jan 31, 2018
Don’t those two words just piss you off even more? As I am sure you can imagine, tempers often flare during mediation and dealing with emotions is a large part of what I do. For example, last year I worked with a divorcing couple who had two kids. According to...
by Nancy | Jan 24, 2018
You want out. Out of your job, your marriage, your apartment lease, your cable contract. And no doubt, you keep on hearing your mother’s voice, “don’t burn a bridge.” What exactly does that mean? According to Wictionary, burning a bridge ...
by Nancy | Jan 17, 2018
I ask a lot of questions. I do so not only because it’s a necessity for a Mediator, but also because I am genuinely interested in the answers. Call it natural curiosity, call it being a good listener, or call it deflecting the interest away from me. Whatever....
by Nancy | Jan 10, 2018
When I was a young paralegal working for a large law firm in downtown Los Angeles, I was a quiet, insecure, rule-following employee who ate lunch by myself every day. I definitely had a different personality at work than at home, and it was very stressful for me to...
by Nancy | Jan 3, 2018
For my first blog in the new year, I was all set to write something inspirational. And then this happened: a couple going through a particularly ugly break-up, confessed to me that they fight in front of their kids. And they said they can see how it’s...
