The Hello Divorce Podcast Erin Levine

I wanted to use today's episode as an opportunity to talk about some of the things I've learned about the divorce process in the past 15 years since I've become a divorce lawyer and then in the last 3 years as the founder and CEO of HelloDivorce and one of the questions, I always get especially from media platforms and journalist is what are the causes of divorce which I always find really interesting because that's not really my job.

Right?



I'm not really there to determine why someone is getting divorced but really how to help them manage the divorce process in the least painful way possible. But what I don't get asked a lot is what it is that I've learned about how people negotiate how they move through the process. What emotional triggers come up and that kind of thing.

So I thought I would use this short episode to share and I'd love to hear from you. If any of these ring true? If you've had similar experiences, if you're maybe an exception to the truth? Or any other feedback that you might have.



Be in Control &Know the Process

FREE 15 minute divorce planning and strategy consult, and instant access to ALL divorce info you need.

https://hellodivorce.com/sign-up/

For additional resources visit us at www.hellodivorce.com

"My spouse and I came to an agreement on support and property division that is based on what we think is fair – not what the law dictates. I’m concerned that because our  Marital Settlement Agreement doesn’t follow the child support state guidelines and our property agreement is ‘lopsided,’ that our judge won’t approve.  Will the judge still sign our divorce decree?"

If you feel like the statement above is a situation you are about to face then listen up because this podcast will help!


Be in Control &Know the Process

FREE 15 minute divorce planning and strategy consult, and instant access to ALL divorce info you need.

https://hellodivorce.com/sign-up/

For additional resources visit us at www.hellodivorce.com

-----

Be in Control &Know the Process

FREE 15 minute divorce planning and strategy consult, and instant access to ALL divorce info you need.

https://hellodivorce.com/sign-up/

For additional resources visit us at www.hellodivorce.com

-----
Welcome back to the Hello Divorce Podcast. And today I want to address a question that comes up quite a bit for California divorces, but as we prepare to launch into other states, the question comes up a lot more often. Which is what is a status conference? How do I prepare for one? And do I need to go even if my spouse and I already have a complete agreement on our divorce-related issues or we're working with a mediator in an effort to come to an agreement?  So this is a really good question. And unfortunately, there's just not a lot of resources out there. A lot of the DIY type services or even lawyers will say, "Yeah, great. If you have an agreement, let's put it in writing. Let's do our best to avoid court." But what we don't talk about is sometimes depending on the state that you live, a status conference or a case management conference or something of the like is set automatically.

So that means that you filed the initial paperwork to get your divorce started and some states, and that actually even breaks down further than that. Because some counties,  will automatically set a status conference or something of the like in your case, right from the beginning. So oftentimes what I tell people is if you really want to avoid that status conference, that court appearance, then maybe the best thing for you to do is to submit all your paperwork at once. So usually in most states, there are several steps that you have to take to get divorced. They include a petition or response or some sort of first paperwork. There's also usually financial disclosures. And then finally there's a judgment or a divorce decree or an affidavit or something that ends your divorce.

And in some cases you might want to try to submit all of those documents at once, if you really aim to avoid having to go to a court hearing. But I will say that in states that have waiting periods. So as an example, Colorado has 90 days, California has 6 months. These waiting periods usually begin after you have served your spouse with that initial paperwork that's been filed with the court. So if you want to get that waiting period going, then you might not want to wait to finish all of your paperwork before you submit it to the court. You might want to get started on that step one, so we can get that waiting period going. Additionally, even if you send in all your paperwork at once, it doesn't necessarily mean that you get to avoid a status conference, which is pretty ridiculous. I mean, talk about big brother. You have the courts saying to you, "Well, sure you have a full agreement or you're working on a full agreement, but we still want to check in with you."

Learn more about Hello Divorce now. 

Free 15 min. Strategy Call and Free Starter Membership.

https://swiy.io/HDfreemembership 

https://hellodivorce.com/our-process/book-your-15-minute-strategy-call/  

Get divorced and feel good about it. While divorce can be a very trying process, you can at least rest assured that you’re doing it your way, well-informed, and efficiently – and the Hello Divorce team of family law experts are here to support you along the way. 



Hi guys. I wanted to tell you about today's topic which is, Should I Hire a Divorce Lawyer? And I think in the past, that was kind of a no brainer. If you had the money, you hire a lawyer. Divorce is the dissolving of one of the most complex contracts we will ever enter into; the marital contract. And so we want to be as informed as possible, and we want to negotiate and make decisions that are in our best interest and the best interest of our kids. That being said, we're balancing a lot of things. We don't necessarily want to lawyer up in the traditional sense if we think that it's going to spark a war, or it's going to lead to distrust, and then maybe our spouse will do something that's irrational or against our interests.  So, while we want to be informed and we want to know our legal rights, we also want to balance keeping our kids' health and safety in check, and keeping to the extent possible, the peace between our spouse. Because one thing we do know is not only is litigation expensive, but it doesn't always yield the best results and it certainly doesn't yield the most practical results.

For additional resources visit us at www.hellodivorce.com

It's great to be back on my podcast, I took a couple of weeks off. Things have been a little bit crazy around my house and I suspect the same for you - but I wanted to change the topic up a little bit today to discuss, “so you're getting a divorce during a global pandemic…” What we've talked about so far, either in the podcast or our blogs or our press outreach is how to navigate divorce if you're in it right now or you started just before the pandemic.

We also discussed co-parenting during a global pandemic. What I focused early on when we first sheltered in place were some of the crises that were coming up; whether you should do a child custody exchange, how do you manage a co-parent who is not taking shelter in place seriously or not following the CDC guidelines on being safe and trying not to get infected with the Coronavirus.

That crisis, at least for the moment, for a lot of people, has been resolved either through communication with each other or an emergency order with the court or, in some cases, appointing a special master or parenting coordinator to help people navigate these uncertain times. What we haven't discussed is just how many people are coming to us, and not just us but the rest of the world, and announcing that they now want a divorce.

I just wanted to explore this a little bit and I'm hoping that this becomes a conversation that we ultimately have across social media or on our website. I think it's important to bring up the fact that I, first of all, taking off my lawyer and founder hat for a moment, have just heard from so many friends and people that I know and love that divorce is imminent, that they have decided that they now want a divorce.

Then, of course, on Hello Divorce, we've had far more leads than we ordinarily have. I'm not saying this or sharing that because I'm arrogant or I want to show off or anything like that, we haven't really changed much in terms of our marketing strategy, our advertising strategy, but what has changed is the number of leads, and so that's really telling.

One thing we learned from China, after they lifted the quarantine lockdown terms, is that the divorce rate there went up substantially. It skyrocketed. One of the first things that some people did when they were allowed to leave their home was file for divorce. I expect that we will see a pretty big increase in divorce here as well. I don't know that it will be as high as it is in China because we have different economic considerations here.

(Live Webinar Replay) Navigating Your Divorce Through Coronavirus with special guest Mark Flowers from CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™



Description

Coronavirus / COVID-19 is upending all of our lives. It will impact your divorce as well, if it hasn’t already.

Join Hello Divorce Founder and CEO Erin Levine and Mark Flowers, CFP, CDFA and host of Second Saturday San Mateo, for a frank and interactive conversation on the ways you can still keep your divorce on track during these uncertain times.

We’ll discuss:

- Moving forward with your divorce paperwork, even with temporary court closures;

- Legal perspectives on co-parenting through school closures and shelter in place directives;

- Understanding options for adjusting child/spousal support payments if your job is at risk;

- The financial and legal reasons that now is is actually not the time to delay your divorce;



ABOUT THE HOSTS:

Erin Levine is a certified family law attorney who is reimagining how divorce is handled by using technology to make the process more efficient. She is the founder of Hello Divorce (www.hellodivorce.com) an incredibly powerful DIY divorce navigation tool that gives users the information and resources they need to divorce on their terms, with on-demand access to high-quality help at a flat-rate fee.

Mark Flowers is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional, a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst, an the leader of Second Saturday Divorce workshops in San Mateo County. Currently, with Private Portfolios, Mark has been in financial services in various roles including real estate finance, insurance planning, and wealth management for the past 15 years.