Month: August 2018

August 2018

International Inspiration

August 31, 2018 / NEXT: An Empowerment Series

First she called the police. Then airport security. For hours she had tried to reach her husband. Her two year old, who had never spent a night away from her, was on a plane headed out of the country. The text telling her of the abduction of her only child to an unknown location in the United States said: “More info later.” Her husband, who had changed the locks on the house and taken their son from day care to the airport, instructed her to “not take any irrational actions.” It took ten days for Nahoko to locate her child

The Gift of Grieving

August 30, 2018 / Doing Divorce

Saturday morning my eldest daughter called me very early. I knew before I heard her hysterical sobbing that something was very wrong. “He died,” she wailed. She and my younger daughter had just lost a man who was special in their lives. A man I did not know at all. A man they called Grandpa Don. Don was their stepmom’s dad. He joined my girls’ family 5 years ago when their dad married into Don’s family. So began an extended family that my girls would become close to, but would be basically strangers to me. At first it felt weird.

What is the Difference Between Contempt and Modification?

August 28, 2018 / Divorce Made Simple

After a divorce has become final, problems can arise between former spouses in complying with the terms of their divorce. For example: My former spouse is not following our parenting plan. My former spouse has not transferred property as ordered in our divorce decree. My former spouse refuses to pay child support or alimony. To address these types of post-divorce issues, your attorney may recommend initiating a “contempt” action or a “modification” action, or both. The following explains the purposes and differences between these two possible actions. Contempt Actions The purpose of a contempt action is to ask a court

Surprising Scares

August 24, 2018 / NEXT: An Empowerment Series

It was dark when I headed out. No one knew where I was or where I was going. Alone on my pre-dawn jog, I could have disappeared and it would have taken about four hours before anyone would notice. Last spring I ignored my friend’s advice to “stay on the trail where you can see people” when I went for a run among April azaleas. I don’t hesitate to walk under a poorly lit underpass at night, rationalizing that it’s only a few yards. It’s not that I’m a thrill seeker. It’s just that I can squash a cockroach with

Good Faith: How to Keep Faith in Your Co-Parent

August 23, 2018 / Doing Divorce

An unexpected traffic detour derailed my perfect attendance for her first day of school. For 11 years I have been photographing our daughters bright-eyed and bushy-tailed on their first days of school – as the family memory keeper and photobook maker. This year was unlike the others – one daughter started at a high school several days before the other and a couple of miles now separate the two during the school day. No more do we have a dual first day of school photo. I knew that my youngest daughter had been sensitive to everyone asking her older sister

Evolution Unfolding

August 17, 2018 / NEXT: An Empowerment Series

A warmhearted melancholy washes over me as I stare out the window. Eighteen years ago this month I returned to the neighborhood of my childhood to begin a new chapter of my life. Today I taste the bittersweetness of my life as I sip my first cup of dark roast in the newly opened coffee shop. I’m surrounded by tall ceilings, brick walls and laptops as I admire the view from the window. I’m in Little Bohemia on South 13th Street. It was the heart of the Czech immigrants with Little Italy being its cozy neighbor. My family moved to

Perspective on a Path

August 16, 2018 / Doing Divorce

It was raining. But all I could see was her smiling face. I didn’t feel the drops falling on my work blouse. I didn’t worry about the curly hair on my head it was creating. I didn’t fret about not finding my umbrella. Her smile kept me quite unaware. My first-born daughter was about to walk up the old stone stairways to her brand new high school and instead of weeping in worry I was singularly focused on her bright smile keeping me in this moment where she felt happy and excited – and so too, did I. I have

Restoring Your Former Name

August 14, 2018 / Divorce Made Simple

Did you know that you can change your name back to your former name in your divorce? Nebraska law allows for former names (sometimes referred to as “maiden name”) to be restored in a divorce. If you wish to have your former name restored, here’s what you need to know. Include the request to have your former name restored in your complaint or counterclaim. If you are the plaintiff, you should include a specific request to have your former name restored in your complaint – the initial document you file with the court asking for your marriage be dissolved. If

Thrilled

August 10, 2018 / NEXT: An Empowerment Series

Do you remember a time when you would have been thrilled to have what you have now? When I returned home from a spring semester of college in Barcelona I weighed close to twenty pounds more than I had when I left. I had spent days walking on cobblestone streets, exploring medieval monasteries and hiking up hills in the Pyrenees. But the months of living on a student loan diet of bread and cheese took its toll. The day I walked of the plane and my family saw me, my five foot two self would have been thrilled to weigh

Questions to Remember During Mediation

August 7, 2018 / Divorce Made Simple

Nebraska law requires parents to develop a parenting plan before a divorce can become final. Parenting plans discuss in detail what the co-parenting relationship will look like between former spouses. Some parenting plans are developed during the mediation process. While all parenting-plan mediations will address major parenting issues—such as routine parenting time, holiday parenting time, and legal decision making—it is important not to forget these important topics: What should vacation parenting time look like and much advanced notice should be given? How much telephonic or electronic communication access should our child have with the parent who is not exercising parenting

« Prev 1 2 Next »