Sep 30 2009
Autumn Transitions—Moving Toward Your Preferred Future
Labor Day is the traditional end of summer vacation and return to work. Not surprisingly, As a divorce mediator and collaborative lawyer, I see an upsurge of calls from couples who have deferred the hard questions of how to best conclude their marriages and parent their children in separate households. I hear in their voices a sense of purpose and urgency. It’s time to get back to work.
I’m guessing that the surge in the stock market and up tick in real estate prices have played a role in moving couples from planning toward action. Some experts say that this painful recession is technically over even though unemployment has yet to move in a positive direction. Clients tell me that they are no longer avoiding their quarterly retirement reports as their investments have chalked up the best quarterly gain in years. Nor do my mediation clients any longer take the position that 2009 house values are an aberration that should be ignored in valuing community property.
From my perspective, this renewed courage to face reality is healthy. And the willingness of couples to explore mediated divorce settlements or the collaborative divorce process is encouraging. The good news is that mediation continues to offer an economically and emotionally satisfying alternative to traditional court-centered divorce. And the collaborative process really does provide that necessary “safe container” for many couples needing the support of a professional team to successfully navigate the shoals of divorce.
For couples starting mediated divorce settlement negotiations or the collaborative divorce process in the last few months of 2009, it appears more likely than not that their divorce finalization will coincide with the economy’s emergence from recession into a new growth cycle. That’s a powerful transition to new life on both counts.