: 05 November 2024

A Self-Care Guide for a Healthy Divorce

At Compassionate Divorce, our goal is to help you facilitate a healthy divorce by ensuring the process is as amicable as possible.

And each of you can help us in that process by focusing on taking good care of your physical and mental health.

But whether you decide to work with us or not, we want to offer some tools that you’ll hopefully find helpful for surviving the stress and turmoil of divorce.

In any case, everyone comes to us with a different experience.

And while it takes two people to decide to get married, it only takes one to decide to divorce.

Sometimes members of a couple will decide to divorce at or about the same time, but more often than not, divorce is initiated by the person who can’t imagine living the rest of their life with the other.

When that person delivers the message to their partner, it is not unusual for the receiver of the message to have not spent much or any time considering what life would be like without their partner.

This creates an acceptance gap, in which one member of a couple has been contemplating divorce for a long time and has had a chance to envision a future where they’re not married to their significant other.

In these situations, the person receiving the news often has to play catch-up.

It’s safe to say that, regardless of whether you initiated the divorce or were the recipient of the news, if you’re going through a divorce, you’re likely to experience increases in depression and anxiety.

And while this is inevitable for many couples during the divorce process, when it comes to self-care, there’s actually a lot you can do to ensure a healthy divorce.

So, if you’re having a tough time dealing with divorce, and you want to know what you can do to care for yourself during this incredibly stressful time, keep reading to learn more.

: 16 September 2024

Is It Better to Choose Litigation or Mediation for Property Division in California?

Is It Better to Choose Litigation or Mediation for Property Division in California? No matter how you slice it, divorce is one of the most stressful things you’ll ever endure.

And regardless of why or when your marriage ends, one of the most difficult things to deal with in a divorce is property division.

Here in California, where divorce law adheres to community property principles, the division of property can become even more emotionally charged and contentious.

Traditionally, couples have turned to litigation to resolve these disputes, but this method often exacerbates stress, makes things much more expensive, and prolongs the whole ordeal.

However, a growing number of divorcing couples are now choosing divorce mediation, as opposed to litigation, as it’s often a much better option for everyone involved, not least when it comes to property division.

This approach not only alleviates much of the emotional strain you feel during divorce litigation, but also offers a more cost-effective, efficient, and private means to negotiate the division of assets with your former spouse.

Still, many people who are getting divorced today are confused about whether they should choose litigation or mediation, so we want to provide some context and explain what’s unique about our mediation protocol in relation to property division.

So, if you and/or your spouse want a divorce, you’re worried about dividing your property, and you’re not sure whether to mediate or litigate, then keep reading to learn more.

: 15 August 2024

What You Need to Know When Talking to Your Kids About Divorce

Many of the families we work with are at the very beginning of the divorce process, and oftentimes, parents have yet to tell their children that they’re getting a divorce.

This is certainly understandable, as talking to your kids about divorce is an inevitably difficult and uncomfortable thing to do.

Whether it’s dealing with the emotional impact of discussing divorce with kids – both on you and your children – or being concerned about how they’re going to respond, and how that may affect your relationship with them, there are a lot of things to worry about.

But if you have children and you’re getting divorced, you’re going to have to talk to them about it whether you like it or not. The sooner you do it, the better things will be for everyone as children inevitably sense something is happening in the family.

Luckily, one of the best ways of helping children cope with divorce is to simply talk to them about it.

However, these kinds of conversations can be extremely difficult, so you want to make sure that you’re approaching them in the right way.

With that in mind, this article offers guidance on how to approach the subject of divorce with your kids, no matter what stage of divorce you're in.

So, if you’re wondering how to explain divorce to children in the best way possible, this article will tell you everything you need to know.

: 26 June 2024

How to Address Resistance to Moving Forward With Divorce Proceedings

Couple facing emotional resistance At Compassionate Divorce, our approach aims to help you and your spouse make sure you’re moving forward with divorce proceedings as efficiently and effectively as possible.

Unfortunately, it’s all too common for one party to resist a divorce, and over the years, we’ve experienced this firsthand.

Truth be told, we can’t say we’ve ever worked with a family where both spouses were on the same page during the divorce process, and as we’ve learned, this can create many challenges.

Usually, there’s one party who’s a bit more emotionally ahead, who’s been thinking about separating for longer and is ready to do more to make the divorce happen.

If this is the case, one party may delay the divorce process by, for instance, taking an excessive amount of time to submit paperwork.

To be fair, some of us just aren’t good at organizing and filling out forms, and the divorce process does require you to disclose all of your assets, debts, expenses, and income, which can be quite a tough task for many people.

In extreme cases, some people may refuse to participate in the process or obstruct it, either intentionally or unintentionally, because they are simply not emotionally ready to move forward.

But in California, if one party seeks a divorce, it’s going to happen whether both spouses agree or not.

As such, these tactics only delay the inevitable, and can make an already stressful situation that much tougher to deal with, both financially and emotionally.

With that in mind, we want to offer some advice for handling resistance to moving forward with divorce proceedings, so you can prevent unreasonable delays and continue the divorce process.

So, if you’re dealing with a resistant spouse during divorce, then this article will provide you with a better understanding of how to navigate this difficult situation.

: 29 April 2024

What You Can Do to Improve Co-Parent Communication

After doing this for so many years, we’ve seen more than our fair share of issues when it comes to co-parenting.

But by far, the most common concerns clients seem to have are problems related to co-parent communication.

This comes as no surprise, though, as co-parent communication is a completely different way of interacting with somebody whom you’ve had an intimate relationship with, and when you’ve just gotten divorced, things tend to be very emotionally charged.

Often, when former partners have to start connecting and communicating with each other again, it’s almost like trying to start up an old car that’s been sitting in the garage for months on end.

Just like that old car, you can probably get it up and running again, but if you don’t give it what it needs to run smoothly, you’re going to be in for a bumpy ride.

But if you prioritize productive and respectful co-parenting communication, you can minimize the impact of any issues for you, your former partner, and your children.

So, if you want to cultivate a healthy co-parent relationship and you’re looking for co-parenting tips on communication, then you should definitely keep reading.

Because in this co-parenting communication guide, we’re going to explain the benefits of healthy communication between co-parents and explore the dos and don’ts that you need to know if you want to improve co-parent communication.

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