by Oyster Shell | Apr 11, 2018 | Alabama, Children, Divorce, Family, Family Law, Legal Advice, Mobile, Significant Decisions, Uncategorized
What is Collaborative Law?
Collaborative Law is a method of alternative dispute resolution wherein the parties commit to resolve their dispute out of court. Because parties to a divorce often need to have a continuing relationship due to co-parenting of children, Collaborative Law is ideally suited to divorce and other family law matters.
How is Collaborative Law Different?
A key difference between Collaborative Law and other forms of alternative dispute resolution, such as mediation, is the parties sign a participation agreement that sets out the parameters, including voluntary disclosure of financial information, mutual respect, insulating children from the dispute, sharing of experts such as mental health and financial professionals, and no litigation. Each party is represented by their own lawyer.
What are the Benefits of Collaborative Law?
The benefit of Collaborative Law is that you and your spouse or partner control the process and make final decisions; whereas, in litigation, the Judge controls the process and makes decisions for you. You also control the timetable which is most definitely not the case when you are involved in litigation. Collaborative Law is also private and litigation is not.
Collaborative Law is just now starting as a process in the Mobile area but has been taking place around the country and in Birmingham, Alabama, for several years. You can check out collaborativepractice.com for more information.
If Collaborative Law sounds like it may be right for your family, please contact us for a consultation. You can reach us by phone at 251-432-7909.
by Oyster Shell | Mar 2, 2018 | Alabama, Divorce, Family, Family Law, Legal Advice, Mobile, Significant Decisions
Mediation is a form of alternative dispute resolution where a neutral third party, the mediator, facilitates you and the opposing party, typically your spouse or the other parent, in negotiating a settlement in your case. There are several potential benefits to mediation.
Benefits of Mediation
Privacy
Mediation is confidential. No one will know what goes on at the mediation except for the mediator, the parties and their attorneys. If you are able to negotiate a settlement, you do not have to air your dirty laundry in court.
Flexibility
You and your spouse or the other parent can negotiate a plan that is tailor-made for your needs and situation. You probably will not get that result from litigation.
Cost-Effective
If both parties are serious about resolving their differences out of court and coming to a settlement, mediation is typically far more cost-effective than protracted litigation.
Reduces Conflict
Mediation does not have the adversarial nature of litigation and can often reduce the conflict level between the parties. If you have to co-parent with this person in the future, less conflict in divorce helps contribute to a better long-term working relationship. In addition, there is a wealth of information out there that indicates that children of divorce fare far better when the conflict between the parents is kept to a minimum.
by Oyster Shell | Jan 30, 2018 | Alabama, Divorce, Family Law, Legal Advice, Mobile, Significant Decisions
What is an uncontested divorce
People are often unsure of how the whole divorce process works in Mobile, Alabama. The term “uncontested divorce” refers to a divorce where the parties do not go to court, and the divorce is submitted solely on the written agreement of the parties.
If you retain Herlihy Family Law and one of our divorce attorneys in Mobile, Alabama for an “uncontested divorce,” it will be drafted and sent to you for review. Once you approve in final form, it will be sent to your spouse for their signature. Nothing is filed with the Court until the agreement is complete and signed by both parties, and the Defendant will not be formally served with anything.
This means that you and your spouse must be able to agree on 100% of the terms of your divorce, including custody and visitation, child support, the marital homeplace, and disposition of other assets and debts.
If you and your spouse do not agree on these major issues, then an uncontested divorce is probably not for you. I have certainly had clients over the years tell me, “we agree on everything except custody of the children.” Well, child custody is a major issue!
An uncontested divorce also does not afford the opportunity to conduct discovery, so if you don’t know anything about the family finances, then an uncontested divorce is probably not right for you. That being said, a case can start out as contested, and then eventually settle once both parties have the chance to get the information they need.
In sum, unless you and your spouse have open lines of communication, and you have discussed the divorce with them and are fairly certain you can agree, then it may not be wise to invest your valuable time and legal expenses on an uncontested divorce.
If you and your spouse have discussed and agreed on the terms, and you feel you have enough information to make an intelligent decision, then an uncontested divorce may be the route for you, as it is typically the quickest and least expensive way to get divorced.
by Oyster Shell | Sep 19, 2017 | Alabama, Custody, Divorce, Family Law, Mortgage
What is abandonment in divorce
Wondering what is abandonment in divorce? On an almost daily basis, clients and potential clients say to me, I can’t move out of the house because that’s abandonment, right? I recently spoke at a CLE for other attorneys, most of whom do not primarily practice family law, and some of the attorneys even harbored this misconception. Many people believe that you can forfeit your interest in the marital homeplace by moving out.
Ala. Code §30-2-1 lists several grounds for divorce, including the following at part (3): For voluntary abandonment from bed and board for one year next preceding the filing of the complaint.
As you can see, simply moving out of the marital home when divorce is imminent does not meet the definition of abandonment under this statute. That being said, there are many factors to consider when making the decision to move out, including but not limited to the payment of household bills and custody of children, so it is essential to seek legal advice on your specific situation prior to packing your suitcase.
Hopefully, this helps answer the question of what is abandonment in divorce and gives you some peace of mind.
by Oyster Shell | Jul 19, 2013 | Alabama, Mobile, Uncategorized
Mobile Arts Council is pleased to announce the recipients of the Tenth Annual Greater Mobile Arts Awards. The awards acknowledge the important contributions that individuals, groups and businesses make to the cultural life of our community.
The awards will be presented in a ceremony to be held Thursday, August 29, at 7:00 p.m. in the 1927 Room at the Saenger Theatre with a reception honoring the recipients immediately following. This event is free and open to the public.
This year’s recipients include:
Artist: Mike McKee
Business: Crescent Theater
Educator: Lori Bilbry Vaghefi
Patron: Dr. Thomas Rosandich
Organization: Mobile Symphony
Volunteer: Dan Silver
Additional Awards for 10th Anniversary:
To celebrate ten years of the Arts Awards program, the Awards Committee, chaired by local artist/educator Katherine D. Seawell, has created two additional awards:
Emerging Artist Riley Brenes
This award acknowledges the exceptional contributions of an early-career artist to the local creative community.
Lifetime Achievement Carmen Brown
This award acknowledges individuals who display an extraordinarycommitment to the overall health and vitality of the Metropolitan Mobile Area through creative means during the course of their lifetime.
Each year a different local artist is commissioned to create the awards. This year, the awards have been created by glass artist and previous Arts Awards recipient Rachel Wright.
The Mobile Arts Council is a private nonprofit organization that serves as an umbrella organization for arts and cultural organization in the Greater Mobile Metropolitan Area, receiving financial support from the City of Mobile, Mobile County Commission, Alabama State Council on the Arts (a State agency), the National Endowment for the Arts, and from local corporations, businesses and individuals.
For more information, contact Bob Burnett, Executive Director, Mobile Arts Council, 251-432-9796 or bburnett@mobilearts.org.
