For many people, divorce may be the first and sometimes only time they will work with a lawyer during their lifetime.  Not knowing how to work effectively with your lawyer can lead to unnecessary frustration and dissatisfaction.  In this episode, host Jaime Davis and her law partner Carrie Tortora discuss tips related to five different areas of working with a divorce attorney: the initial consultation, including how to prepare and what to expect; communicating with your lawyer; what to do when you are asked to collect documents and information for your attorney; managing your legal bill; and most importantly, maintaining your sanity during the process.

If you are contemplating separation or divorce, you may be worried about how the COVID-19 pandemic will affect your ability to physically separate from your spouse, as well as your ability to negotiate and finalize agreements about child custody, child support, the division of your assets and alimony and what will happen if you find yourself needing the court's assistance. In this episode, host Jaime Davis and fellow family law attorney Lynn McNally discuss how COVID might impact your divorce and whether now is a good time to separate or not.  

Being separated or divorced and dealing with child custody is hard enough on a good day.  Divorced parents often wish to avoid interacting with one another if possible, but the coronavirus pandemic is presenting new challenges and is requiring more communication. In this episode, host Jaime Davis and her law partner Carrie Tortora discuss tips for navigating child custody and child support during the COVID-19 outbreak.

In this episode, host Jaime Davis and colleague Lynn McNally discuss Jaime's newly released book entitled A Year and a Day which is based largely on this podcast. In 2017, Jaime decided to create the podcast to provide tips and information for getting through a separation and divorce without destroying family relationships or the family finances.  The book is geared toward divorce related professionals and individuals who are contemplating separation, have been told by their spouse that they want to separate, or who may be dealing with child custody issues.  

People going through a separation often want to know whether they can represent themselves in connection with their divorce case. While the short answer to this question is yes, in this episode host Jaime Davis and fellow family law attorney Lynn McNally delve deeper into the issue and discuss times when it may be ok for you to represent yourself and other times when you should consider hiring a lawyer to help you.

Various claims arise from the dissolution of a marriage. One of those claims is equitable distribution. Postseparation support and alimony are two additional claims that arise.  Child custody and child support may also be at issue.  In Episode 6, host Jaime Davis and her law partner Meredith Cross discuss two ways to resolve these claims and what to do if you have just been served with a lawsuit.  

Alimony and cohabitation can be some of the more frustrating issues for family law clients.  There are many misconceptions about who is entitled to alimony, how it is calculated, and what constitutes cohabitation.  In this episode, host Jaime Davis and her colleague Melissa Essick discuss when a spouse might be entitled to receive alimony, whether there is a formula for calculating the amount and duration, and how cohabitation might impact a person's right to continue receiving spousal support.  

In most cases, when we talk about the issues arising from a couple’s separation, we discuss civil claims such as child custody, child support, alimony and property distribution. But there are some actions a spouse might take following a separation that can lead to criminal liability.  In this episode, host Jaime Davis discusses two of those issues- domestic criminal trespass and revenge porn- with attorney Maria Hawkins of the Miller Law Group.  

If a person is married, can he completely disinherit the other spouse in his will?  If spouses separate, is there anything they should consider changing about their estate plans? In this episode, host Jaime Davis discusses inheritance rights and how your marital status might affect those rights with attorney Brooke Dalrymple. In her estate planning work, Brooke counsels clients and prepares the documents necessary to ensure their wishes are honored with regard to their assets, their health care, and the handling of their financial affairs. 

There seems to be a misconception that all couples going through a divorce are involved in high conflict cases.  In reality, however, the majority of separating couples are able to resolve their issues with little or no court intervention.  With that said, there are some cases that despite the lawyers using their best efforts will not settle.  The parties are unable to agree upon even the smallest of issues and court battles ensue.  These cases are often referred to as high conflict cases.  In this episode, host Jaime Davis discusses the topic of high conflict cases with Donna Moore, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Healthy Divorce Recovery Specialist.