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Month: December 2019

December 2019

Christmas Caring
“It’ll be different,” she said, the tears filling her eyes revealing what her determined smile failed to hide. This Christmas was going to be painful. “It’s bittersweet,” he said. “This is a hard time of year for my wife.” “Honestly, I dread it.” I’ve lost track of the number of people who have exposed their truth that the holidays are hard for them. A death. A deep dysfunction among sibs.  A distance brought on by addiction, geography, or a history of hateful words. A child they won’t see. For weeks I’ve anticipated the return of my children from across the
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Does It Hurt or Help to be Nice in a Divorce?
Divorce does not have to be contentious.  In fact, you could be making it harder for yourself (and your children) if you approach your divorce with revenge in your heart.  Taking the high road is not always easy, but there are several reasons you may benefit from it: You can save money. If you and your spouse can be on good terms during your divorce, you will find it pays off.  Not only will the process go a lot smoother for you emotionally, but you can also save money if you are able to stay out of court.  Settlement is
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Lonely
How does one escape an epidemic? Loneliness is rising at an alarming rate despite us having more opportunities for communication and connection than ever. Loneliness would have been the logical response for so many seasons of my life.  Not only the divorce from my first husband, but also the years of marriage preceding it when I hid a book on intimate partner abuse under my mattress. I went away to college, and far away to law school, and to Spain on my own for a semester at 19. My youngest went away to college at 15 and today my children
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Hard Holidays
It was so much harder than I expected. I had successfully navigated the Christmas holidays all seven years prior as a divorced parent with my two young daughters.  Now, in my 8th year as a divorced parent, the Christmas season was upon us.  Their dad made a request to take the girls away for both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  I cannot explain my response in any other way than I thought it was the right thing to do.  I said yes. Their stepmother’s father had passed earlier in the year.  As the first holiday season approached after his passing,
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How to Legally Change Your Name in Nebraska
If you are preparing for or are in the process of getting a divorce, you will want to consider whether or not to restore your former name. Nebraska has a fairly easy process for accomplishing this as part of your divorce process. If you want to have your former (maiden) name restored, you should take the following steps: Request the change in your initial filing.  If you are initiating the divorce action, ask your attorney to include a request for restoration of your maiden name in your initial complaint.  If your spouse initiated the divorce, be sure that your answer
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You Deserve It
“You deserve it,” he says. I’m awkwardly silent. I feel more curiosity than satisfaction. Why do I deserve it? Would I be entitled to it even if I didn’t deserve it? Does it matter whether I deserve it? Other people deserve it, too, so why didn’t they get it? Am I somehow special? My charmed life means I hear this phrase often, like the time I got Grigio, my little silver convertible. Why the declarations of my deservedness? Was it because I had the income to afford it? Or because I’d lived enough years to be worthy? I wasn’t sure.
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Featuring Fun
I couldn’t catch my breath.  I was in a public place and tears were streaming down my face.  The threat of urinating on myself was real.  I could not stop laughing.  It came wave after therapeutic wave – the fits of giggles in between the gasps for air. When I think back to the four days I recently spent in New Hampshire with two of my dearest friends since age 12, what I most remember is the laughter:  tons of it – days of it – literally stomach hurting from it.  I felt alive, refreshed, and so happy. Traci and
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Using a Quitclaim Deed to Transfer Real Estate in a Divorce
One of the easiest and most common ways to transfer property rights to another party in Nebraska is through the use of a quitclaim deed. This type of deed conveys the interest you have in a property without providing any warranties or guarantees about the interest you are conveying. If you acquired your home during your marriage, you probably own it together as a joint tenancy with rights of survivorship.  This means that the property passes automatically to a surviving spouse.  When you divorce, the property settlement you negotiate with your spouse will typically include one of these two options
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