Our Story

I was divorced in the early nineties.  At the time I went through the divorce process, I had just finished law school and was struggling to keep up with expenses, a new job, and parenting three children as a single mom.  It was a stressful time.  My husband and I separated for several months.  During this time, we worked out a parenting schedule that was great for our children and worked well for both of us.  We also worked out the financial support and had a plan on dividing the debt.  Our new family,( i.e., two households sharing parent time) was working quite well.

 

When it was time to start divorce proceedings, I hired an attorney right away because I learned in law school that “only fools would try to represent themselves”.  By the time the divorce was finalized, my ex-husband and I had gone through some unnecessary “battles”; and, like the game “Battleship”, our relationship had taken some hits.  We ended up with basically the same agreement that we had worked out on our own before we involved attorneys.  Also, we each paid four thousand dollars in attorney fees.  Our divorce started out simple, but became much more complicated before we were through.  I thought at the time that there should be a better way.

Since practicing law over the past nineteen years, I continue to struggle with the divorcing process.  Because I have paid attorney fees and know that it is difficult, I struggle with billing my clients. I struggle with the knowledge, gained through both personal and professional experience, that many divorcing couples may be able to get divorced without the assistance of an attorney.  I have learned that divorcing couples need a little education about the divorce process and Utah law.  I also know that many divorcing couples can reach an agreement with the help of a mediator on one or two disputed issues.  However, once couples reach an agreement with a mediator, they still need the legal documents to file with the court.  Some couples will also have difficult, complicating issues and will need to hire an attorney.  With education and background information about the issues and law surrounding divorce, divorcing couples can get the most out of their attorney-client relationship and have a better divorce and, hopefully, a less expensive one.

I guess the teacher in me started to come out (before I became an attorney I was a teacher), so I began to think about developing a program that would educate divorcing couples on the process and provide both legal and life resources to help couples get divorced with the least amount of collateral and emotional damage to the family.  

 

 

 

Our website allows you to educate yourself at your own pace and maintains your privacy.  It also provides an avenue to ask specific questions, in case you have an issue that has not been addressed.  If you prefer meeting face-to-face in a live seminar where there is a more spontaneous exchange of information, we also hold live seminars each month throughout Utah. We hope that you will find our website and other resources helpful to you as you navigate the divorce process.  

 

And, whether you choose to use our resources or not, we wish you the very best as you work to build a new life for yourself and/or your family. 

Best regards, 

 

Patricia and Christopher