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The answer is “Yes”.

Legally, you aren't required to have an attorney for mediation, but you really should have one with you.

When you hear about some new idea that someone urges you to try out, one of your first questions may be, “Will it Work?”. We don't want to waste time and money on something that doesn't stand a chance of working.

Almost every litigated divorce will end up in mediation, unless the parties can somehow come to agreement just by talking directly or talking through the attorneys. Because those voluntary agreements are very rare and because trials are expensive and involve a long wait, most divorce cases are resolved through mediation.

Mediation is a popular and effective way to get cases resolved quicker and usually better than they would be in Court. Here is some of the background on why it works.

The other day, I was visiting with a highly educated man who started to tell me about his experience with divorce. That's not an unusual situation. Everyone has stories from their own experiences or their family or friends' experiences.

If you are thinking about filing for divorce, one of the obvious questions is about timing. There is no simple, universal answer as to when the best time is to file. Sometimes, couples may think about, and even talk about, divorce for years and then finally decide to take the plunge. Other times, a quick decision is necessary. Here are some considerations to help you decide, if you are approaching that step.

If you are trying to decide whether to try Collaborative Law, here are some things to think about.

A “knock on the door” from the Texas Attorney General can take several forms: a letter, a phone call to you, a call to your employer or service of papers on you, among other ways. The knock is to notify you that something is about to happen in court or by a court order. If you are a parent, or alleged to be a parent, the knock is probably to notify you either that you are a parent and have an obligation to start supporting a child or children or they want to examine your financial situation and maybe raise your existing child support or they want you to start paying the support that was previously ordered.

Many people think Collaborative Law is useful only in cases where both parties are basically in agreement. They think that spouses or ex-spouses couldn't sit down and have civilized negotiations on sensitive child custody or financial issues.

An Agreement Incident to Divorce (AID) is a great tool for people going through a divorce. It fits in well with one of the main reasons why many people choose to use Collaborative Law — it helps protect their privacy. An AID is a document that is sometimes prepared in addition to a decree of divorce. In a traditional Texas divorce, the terms of the divorce are spelled out in detail in the decree of divorce.