Conversations About Divorce

Divorce is such a traumatic, painful event that can rock you to your core, shake your self-confidence and make you doubt everything you thought you knew. You’re likely not going to be rushing to embrace your newly single life after divorce.

Yet, as journalist and TV news anchor Tamsen Fadal says, “Happily Single Comes before Ever After” and that’s a philosophy recommended by many divorce coaches.

Happily Single is about learning who you are, learning to love yourself and accepting that your history is what makes you uniquely you.

Join Tamsen and Mandy as they discuss why this journey is so important and necessary for so many of us, how you can manage it in just 365 days and just as importantly, how you can do it even if your budget is extremely limited.

Tamsen Fadal is a 7-time Emmy award-winning journalist, producer, author, and entrepreneur who has interviewed Presidents, power-players, and newsmakers from across the globe. Tamsen is the PIX11 Anchor of the 5pm and 10pm news at PIX11, Tribune’s flagship station in New York City.

Tamsen has co-authored the self-help books, Why Hasn’t He Called? (McGraw Hill); Why Hasn’t He Proposed? (McGraw Hill) and Don’t Date Dumb. Her new motivational book, The New Single, May 2015, St. Martin’s Press, is a guide to empowerment after a big life change such as a breakup or divorce. 

Learn more about Tamsen at www.tamsenfadal.com

Child support is often one of the most contentious and bitter areas of divorce negotiations and those disagreements can and do continue for years after the divorce is final.

We frequently hear complaints of child support going unpaid, and unenforced leaving the custodial parent struggling to provide for their child. At the other end of the spectrum we hear complaints and fears about the consequences for non-payment such as garnishment of wages, loss of driver’s license and professional licenses and imprisonment.

Joining Mandy for this episode is award-winning journalist Kimberly Seals Allers. Her article Forgiving $38,750 In Child Support, For My Kids’ Sake was recently published by the Motherlode Blog at The New York Times and received over 450 comments.

Mandy and Kimberly discuss:
How forgiving child support arrears could benefit your childrenThe alternative currencies for contributing child supportHow to avoid arrears and the associated penalties, andWhy forgiving arrears could a key part of your divorce recovery
Kimberly Seals Allers is the author of The Mocha Manual series of books (HarperCollins) and founder of the award-winning pregnancy & parenting website, MochaManual.com.

When I gave birth to my children, I never imagined that on a Friday evening I would be helping them pack their belongings, and sending them off to their dad’s and that they would be shuttling between our two homes. But that is what divorce with children means …

Shared parenting.

Not so long ago that phrase used to commonly mean the kids living with mom, and dad having visitation every other weekend. These days, words like visitation and custody are disappearing from the divorce vocabulary and are being replaced with parenting time and decision-making with an emphasis on the active involvement of both parents.

What that looks like is often dependent on what is in the best interest of the child. That could be changing to a presumption of 50/50 equal shared parenting.

Sounds fair doesn’t it? Sounds like that would help cut down on some of the custody disputes?

My guest, attorney Brenda Storey from Storey Law Offices in Denver, doesn’t think so. Brenda firmly believes a 50/50 presumption is more about fairness between parents and not about what is in the child’s best interest. She also believes that far from reducing litigation around child custody, laws such as this will result in increased litigation.

In 2014, 21-year-old Caitlyn Ricci took her divorced parents to court to force them to pay her college tuition and she won. The judge ruled that of her $26,000 annual bill, Caitlyn was to pay just over $9,000, her dad was to pay 60% of the balance and her mom the rest. Mom and dad are appealing the decision.

In media reports, general public opinion seems to be against Caitlyn in support of her parents arguing that they have no obligation to pay for Caitlyn’s college and that Caitlyn needs to get a job.

Caitlyn’s situation doesn’t automatically apply to other divorced parents but the case highlights an often contentious area in divorce negotiations. And since there’s almost always less money after divorce, single parents are frequently faced with some hard decisions around paying for their child’s college education.

Joining Mandy to share their experience around divorcing parents and paying for college is financial advisor and Certified Divorce Financial Analyst, Jamie Sladky, and retired magistrate and mediator, Simon Mole.

Jamie Sladky is a financial advisor and Certified Divorce Financial Analyst with Raymond James Financial Services, Inc. Member FINRA/SIPC.

Divorce is a confusing, chaotic and overwhelming time. Adding to that confusion is a wave of new services, products and divorce specialists. Are these people taking advantage of people when they are at their most vulnerable or are these new options enabling people to have a healthy divorce?

Joining Mandy for this discussion about the Changing Face of Divorce is divorce coach Karen McMahon from Journey Beyond Coaching. Karen McMahon is a certified life coach and began divorce coaching in 2010 after her own divorce led her on an unwanted, uninvited journey of transformation to what she now describes as an incredible life.

Visit Journey Beyond Coaching to download your free copy of Navigating Your Divorce, and Karen’s ebook Stepping Out Of Chaos.