Blog Posts in October, 2020 Posted By Lois M. Brenner, Esq. 30-Oct-2020 Do I Need to Hire a Lawyer If I am Mediating my Divorce? As a psychologically-trained divorce attorney and mediator, I am uniquely skilled as both an attorney and a mediator. When I am wearing my mediator hat and guiding a couple in the mediation process, I sometimes suggest spouses consult with an ... Continue Reading Posted By Lois M. Brenner, Esq. 28-Oct-2020 I Can Guide You on How to Talk to Your Spouse About Divorce! The day you walked down the aisle and said, “I do” was probably one of the best days of your life. You never anticipated a time when you would be asking your spouse for a divorce. But time has passed, a lot of unhappiness has crept into ... Continue Reading Posted By Lois M. Brenner, Esq. 26-Oct-2020 Need Help Deciding Whether You Should Litigate or Mediate? When considering divorce, many people are familiar with going to court and fighting. But more and more couples are learning there are more peaceful options. These days, during consultations clients ask more about the difference between ... Continue Reading Posted By Lois M. Brenner, Esq. 23-Oct-2020 7 Signs You Are Being Controlled by Your Spouse During a recent phone consultation I spoke with a woman in her 40s who tearfully explained she had no control over her life. Her husband had multiple separate bank accounts and was cutting back on her “spending money,” which he gave her ... Continue Reading Posted By Lois M. Brenner, Esq. 21-Oct-2020 Tips for Managing Depression and Anxiety During Divorce As a divorce attorney and psychologically-trained mediator, I hear from spouses all the time about their depression and anxiety. The pain, turmoil, and chaos of divorce can be terrifying to some. Unfortunately, depression and anxiety are not unusual ... Continue Reading Posted By Lois M. Brenner, Esq. 19-Oct-2020 10 Brenner Divorce Tips! Even if you are not quite ready to get divorced, you need to be informed and financially smart. Deciding to divorce is a complex process. Deciding how easy or difficult the process will be depends on you and how your spouse responds. How well or ill ... Continue Reading Posted By Lois M. Brenner, Esq. 16-Oct-2020 Need Help With Your Parenting Agreement? In my “divorce story” blog post on Wednesday, I briefly described helping a couple with a parenting agreement. A few parents contacted me and had lots of questions about creating a parenting agreement. I thought I would address some of ... Continue Reading Posted By Lois M. Brenner, Esq. 14-Oct-2020 Divorce Story As a divorce attorney and psychologically-trained mediator, I hear all kinds of diverse divorce stories. I have decided to share some of these stories monthly with you. Naturally, I will change the names and some of the details to protect my clients. ... Continue Reading Posted By Lois M. Brenner, Esq. 12-Oct-2020 You Can Divorce Without a Lawyer! We’ve all heard the horror stories from friends, newspapers, blogs and tabloids. The typical divorce can be a nightmare and everybody loses except, maybe, the divorce attorneys, who get paid for their time while divorcing couples fight over ... Continue Reading Posted By Lois M. Brenner, Esq. 9-Oct-2020 Is Sole Custody in Your Child's Best Interest? As a psychologically-trained divorce attorney and mediator it is unusual these days to see one parent asking for the sole physical custody of the children. I recently consulted with a client who was insisting on this. This type of request can ... Continue Reading Posted By Lois M. Brenner, Esq. 7-Oct-2020 Taking Your First Divorce Step! When did you start thinking about divorce? Was it during the coronavirus pandemic? Was it because of finances, fighting, infidelity, control issues, social media postings, or did you simply fall out of love? Couples don’t just wake up one day ... Continue Reading Posted By Lois M. Brenner, Esq. 5-Oct-2020 What is a Statement of Net Worth? What is a Statement of Net Worth? When divorcing, a Statement of Net Worth is that annoying financial form your attorney/mediator sticks in front of you and says, “Fill it out!” You look at it, start sweating, and think, “Oh no! ... Continue Reading Posted By Lois M. Brenner, Esq. 2-Oct-2020 Is Your Spouse Bipolar? A divorcing couple met with me virtually for mediation. The husband had significant outstanding credit card bills. He also drank quite a bit. The wife wanted a divorce and they had one child. Whenever we had a meeting, the husband dominated the ... Continue Reading