DivorceAdvisor™

Providing a Clear First Step on The Path to Your Future

Divorce is one of life’s most critical transitions. The decisions you make during your divorce will impact your future, and the future of your family for the rest of your lives.  

The good news is that there are many skilled people in your community who can help you, including good counselors, attorneys, mediators, and financial planners. The challenge is that, with so many choices, it can be difficult to know how or where to start. As your Divorce Advisor we will help you:

  1. Create a divorce plan based on your most important goals.
  2. Guide you in determining the first steps for your new life.
  3. Help you implement each step of your plan.

DivorceAdvisor: Creating a Plan for Your Divorce

We will help you create a plan for your divorce that helps you achieve your most important goals in a cost-effective manner.  In creating a unique plan designed for your family, we will look at the following:

  1. General Goals: We will help you identify your most important goals (i.e. the needs of your children, economic stability).
  2. Children’s Needs: If you have children, we will help you identify resources for your children and help you, as parents, get the resources you need to create and implement a successful parenting plan.
  3. Financial Needs: We will help you identify the financial resources available to help you through the divorce, regardless of your income, and we will help you identify ways to reduce the cost of the divorce.
  4. Conflict/Interpersonal Needs: We will help you identify the key areas of conflict and guide you in finding a method of conflict resolution that is both safe and effective.

Start Your Planning as a Couple While Also Addressing Individual Needs

In the Divorce Advisor process, we start the planning process by working with you as a couple so that we begin on the same page. As the process continues, we will examine areas where you both may need individual help so that we can make sure that each of your individual needs are addressed as well. As a couple, you may need help from neutral people such as parenting experts, financial guides, or mediators. As an individual, you may need someone to help guide and protect you during the journey such as attorneys, coaches, or therapists. We will help you get the blend of help that you need so that you put together a plan that balances your need for harmonious decisions with your need for individual protection.  

Creating a Plan that Fits the Amount of Conflict or Complexity of Your Situation.

Divorce is not a “one-size-fits-all” event. Each family is unique, and the level of complexity and conflict will impact your choice of process. Some divorces have relatively low conflict and are more about problem solving and planning. Many other divorces have significant areas of conflict that need to be addressed in order to move forward. We will help you design a process that strikes the right balance between your desire for an amicable process and your need for protection.

A Divorce Advisor is a neutral. This means I cannot represent either of you and I cannot provide you with separate legal advice. As a neutral person, I will provide guidance and direction about your options as a couple and leave the legal advice to your separate attorneys.

A mediator is an individual hired by you and your spouse to actively work on the issues related to your divorce. Mediation is among the options that will be explored during your Divorce Advisor process. The Divorce Advisor has a separate, broader role to help you choose the best path for your divorce and to help guide you through the various process steps along the way.

We charge a flat fee of $750.00 for the initial planning stage. During that time, I will meet with each of you separately to learn about your circumstances and your goals. I will then meet with you as a couple to outline goals, to select a process, and to guide you in taking the next steps. If additional services are needed after the initial planning meeting, we will charge our regular hourly rates of $315.00 for Ron Ousky and $165.00 for Megan Yates.

We think the best way to get value on a divorce is through “strategic teaming”. There are many people who can help you during the divorce process; the key is to have the right people doing the right things. A divorce is a combination of legal, financial, parenting, and emotional issues. If you are unfamiliar with divorce it is difficult to make sure you have the right people for the job. For example, paying your lawyer to guide you in making important legal decisions can provide great value for you.  On the other hand, paying your lawyer to assist with parenting issues, emotional concerns, or even certain financial issues may not be the best use of your hard-earned resources.

We will help you coordinate your resources so that you can get the best value. Generally, that means replacing some of the work that has been traditionally done by lawyers with people, such as financial neutrals and parenting neutrals, who can perform those functions more effectively, at a lower hourly rate.  

DivorceAdvisor™ Referral Sheet