Mediation is a form of alternative dispute resolution in which spouses meet with a neutral third party to reach agreements regarding the issues in their divorce. The mediator’s role is to help spouses understand each other’s interests, provide clarity regarding the issues, and help craft the parties’ agreements. Not all mediators in Nebraska are lawyers. However, if you want to mediate all of the issues in your divorce, including the division of your assets and debts, child support, alimony, and the parenting plan, for example, you need to work with an attorney-mediator. However, in mediation, the attorney-mediator is not allowed to
Divorce Made Simple
This blog provides practical information on the legal process of divorce. Our attorneys break down the divorce process in a way that is easy to understand.
If you are getting divorced in Nebraska, there are three main areas where student loans may be involved. Those three areas are: (1) when either party incurs student loans during the marriage; (2) when student loans that were obtained by either party prior to the marriage are paid off/down during the marriage; and (3) when the party paying child support desires to use their student loan payment as a deduction from their income in the child support calculation. The first, and most common, situation involving student loans in divorce cases is when student loans are incurred during the marriage. Before
In Nebraska, pursuant to the Nebraska Parenting Act, parents are required to attempt mediation to agree to a Parenting Plan for their minor child(ren) in a divorce or custody action. So, while many people are familiar with the mediation process as it relates to children, custody, and parenting schedules, people are less familiar with the idea of divorce mediation for financial issues. One myth about divorce mediation is that you can’t use the mediation divorce process for large or complex financial estates. This myth is not true. You can mediate all of the terms of your divorce, including division of
At Koenig|Dunne, we know that divorce is one of the most challenging and stressful times of your life, regardless of the circumstances. For business owners, facing a divorce can seem even more challenging. Many business owners are worried about the impact the divorce will have on their business, or if their business will survive the divorce at all. Going through a contested, litigated business divorce may negatively impact the business, as the divorcing owners’ time, attention, and energy is pulled away from work to tend to meetings with lawyers, experts, and court hearings that can last months (to years). That
Divorce mediation is a cooperative and voluntary process for people to reach resolution of their divorce case outside of court. In Part I of this blog series, we discussed several benefits of divorce mediation, which include putting your children first, a quicker divorce process, a more affordable and cost-effective method of divorce, and retaining control of your divorce case. For couples interested in divorce mediation, there are additional benefits of this process: Reduces Conflict While no divorce is easy, the divorce mediation process generates much less conflict than contested litigation. The divorce attorney-mediator is specially trained to minimize conflict between
When facing divorce, there are many factors to consider, and no two divorces are the same. For spouses interested in a mediated divorce, you will focus on achieving a fair and equitable settlement through the mediation process. You will work with a neutral third-party mediator to reach a mutually acceptable and sustainable resolution without court intervention. For many spouses, the divorce mediation process has benefits over the traditional litigated divorce process, including: Puts Children First Divorce mediation does not focus on tearing one parent down to build the other one up. Both parents come to the table to work with
Koenig|Dunne is proud to have served the LGBTQIA community for many years, including partnerships with the ACLU, the Nebraska ACLU, and Lambda Legal Defense Fund, to protect and preserve the rights of the LGBTQIA community. Last weekend, our team was happy to show our support for the LGBTQIA community here in Omaha at the 2022 Heartland Pride Parade. During our conversations with members of the community during the event, we heard similar questions being asked of our legal team. Below is a summary of the common questions we were asked and our brief answers. 1. What does the Dobbs decision
No two divorces are the same. Some are highly contested, litigated, and expensive legal actions. Others are uncontested and require the parties to cooperate to complete the necessary legal documents. However, they are the same in that they each come with their own sets of challenges and underlying heartbreak. In an uncontested divorce, the parties are able to reach an agreement (usually by having conversations in advance), about the disputed issues in their case, including: Custody of their children Parenting time schedule Payment of child support and the children’s expenses Division of their assets and debts Who will keep the
If you or your spouse is a service member at Offutt Air Force Base and you are considering filing for divorce, the first question you must answer is where do I file? Every state has different divorce filing requirements, but all states require at least one spouse to be a “legal resident” of the state in which he or she wishes to file. Legal residency (also known as “domicile”) is defined as the state in which a person resides while also intending that state to remain his or her permanent home. This intent requirement becomes more complicated with military divorces, as spouses in a military
A bloodied lip, a fractured arm, a black eye. These are the images we have come to associate with domestic violence. As an attorney, the physical manifestations of violence can often be proven in court. Unfortunately, there are other forms of domestic violence that often times fall through the cracks in a divorce case. Scott Hahn, a divorce attorney at Koenig|Dunne, has a keen and perceptive eye to spot signals of domestic violence in its many forms. Prior to joining the Koenig|Dunne team, Scott exclusively represented domestic violence survivors at the Women’s Center for Advancement in Omaha, Nebraska. At Koenig|Dunne, our