Rhonda Cleaves' Appearance on The Jennifer Hargrave Show
December 14, 2020
/
Firm News
/
Rhonda Cleaves recently had the opportunity to discuss the Collaborative Divorce Process on The Jennifer Hargrave Show. They talk about…
Read More
.jpg)
Love and War in the Time of Divorce
December 11, 2020
/
Collaborative Divorce
/
Let’s be honest – divorce is hard. For most, it is a war of inner emotions. It is grieving the loss of someone you loved and the future…
Read More
Rhonda Cleaves Recognized for 2020 Texas Super Lawyers®
December 8, 2020
/
Firm News
/
Cleaves Family Law is proud to announce that Rhonda Cleaves has been named to the list of 2020 Super Lawyers® in Texas. Only 5% of lawyers…
Read More
Cleaves Family Law Attorney Elected to Executive Board of State Bar Collaborative Law Section
December 4, 2020
/
Firm News
/
Cleaves Family Law is proud to announce that Jill Lowe, Senior Associate, has been elected to serve as Secretary of the State Bar of Texas…
Read More
Is a Collaborative Divorce a Contested Divorce?
May 8, 2020
/
Collaborative Divorce
/
There have been many clients who have come to my office and said, “Our divorce is going to be contested, so I don’t think we can use the…
Read More
Can I File for Divorce while “Sheltering-in-Place”?
April 24, 2020
/
Legal Process
/
This may seem like a cruel question to some to address given that most of the world is abiding by shelter-in-place orders at the moment…
Read More
Divorce Court Backlog and the COVID-19 Crisis
April 20, 2020
/
Legal Process
/
The coronavirus pandemic has brought many changes to many aspects of all of our lives. As of this writing, schools are closed for the…
Read More
Socially Distant Co-Parenting
April 10, 2020
/
Children and Parenting
/
Isn’t that a loaded title in this unprecedented time of the coronavirus pandemic? Lots of parents are socially distant following divorce…
Read More
Divorce and the COVID-19 Pandemic
April 3, 2020
/
Legal Process
/
When considering whether to divorce, life can be an emotional roller coaster. There are so many things that weigh on your mind: Can I…
Read More
Cleaves Family Law Adds New Attorney
February 18, 2020
/
Firm News
/
Jill Lowe is joining Cleaves Family Law in Plano. Lowe has been practicing law for over 15 years, and exclusively in marital and family…
Read More
Divorce: Some New Year’s Resolutions
January 3, 2020
/
Self-care for Clients
/
The holidays can be hard for someone who has gone through a divorce, especially when that divorce happened in the past year. This is true…
Read More
Divorce: Keep Christmas Magical
December 20, 2019
/
Children and Parenting
/
If you are in the midst of divorce or already divorced, you have children, and you celebrate Christmas, then this piece is for you. For…
Read More
Divorce in Plano
December 6, 2019
/
Legal Process
/
From a procedural perspective, divorce in Plano follows the same big picture road map as divorce in any other city in Texas. It goes…
Read More
Our Divorce is Uncontested. Now What?
November 15, 2019
/
Legal Process
/
It happens more often than you might think. A couple decides to divorce, sits down for a long conversation, decides that they can amicably…
Read More
Alimony in Texas Divorce Cases – An Update
November 1, 2019
/
Financial Issues
/
Last year, I wrote a piece dispelling the myth that “there is no alimony in Texas.” The specific term alimony was always a construct of…
Read More
Divorce – Know Your Options
October 25, 2019
/
Legal Process
/
I continue to be surprised by the number of people I meet who have never heard about what I do – help divorcing clients using the…
Read More
When to Fight for Full Custody
October 4, 2019
/
Children and Parenting
/
This is a hard question to address. When clients come to me with this question, we work hard to dive deep into the reasons behind that…
Read More
Minimizing the Impact of Divorce on Children with Disabilities
September 20, 2019
/
Children and Parenting
/
Some call it a disability, others call it special needs, but all find that these children are family blessings despite the day-to-day…
Read More
Increased Cap for Child Support in 2019
September 12, 2019
/
Child Support
/
By law, the Texas agency tasked with overseeing the child support collection process is required every six years to re-calculate, based on…
Read More
Rhonda Cleaves Named to Best Lawyers® 2020 List
September 6, 2019
/
Firm News
/
Cleaves Family Law is pleased to announce that Rhonda Cleaves has been selected for the 5th year in a row for inclusion on the Best…
Read More
401Ks and Divorce – Part 2
August 22, 2019
/
Property and Division
/
In Part 1, we focused on “the basics” of 401Ks. In this installment, we look at options. 401Ks are an important asset to any family, and…
Read More
401Ks and Divorce – Part 1
August 16, 2019
/
Property and Division
/
Retirement assets (along with a home) are often the largest assets couples have to divide when divorcing. It’s important for a client…
Read More
Collaborative Divorce: How Hiring More Professionals Can Save You Money (Part 3: Child Specialists)
August 12, 2019
/
Collaborative Divorce
/
This is the final installment of my 3-part series on non-attorney professionals on the Collaborative Divorce team, and it’s for couples…
Read More
Collaborative Divorce: How Hiring More Professionals Can Save You Money (Part 2: Neutral Mental Health Professionals)
August 2, 2019
/
Collaborative Divorce
/
First, let’s clear up this name – Neutral Mental Health Professional (Neutral MHP). Whenever I tell clients that we typically hire a…
Read More
Collaborative Divorce: How Hiring More Professionals Can Save You Money (Part 1: The Neutral Financial Professional)
July 29, 2019
/
Collaborative Divorce
/
When learning about the Collaborative Divorce option, a common and understandable concern of clients is the cost of hiring multiple…
Read More
A New School Year – During and After the Divorce
July 8, 2019
/
Children and Parenting
/
The adjustment to post-divorce life is challenging to say the least. While you were married, you had one household with one set of bills to…
Read More
5 Questions to Ask When Searching for a Divorce Attorney
June 28, 2019
/
Attorneys and Legal Fees
/
Divorce is almost always a scary time for people. It comes packed with much emotion and uncertainty. And while many people think they are…
Read More
We’re in Agreement on Our Divorce – Why Do I Need a Lawyer?
June 13, 2019
/
Attorneys and Legal Fees
/
This is a question I am regularly asked, and it is often raised in two slightly different contexts. However, in both situations, the…
Read More
What Will Your Children Say About Your Divorce?
June 6, 2019
/
Collaborative Divorce
/
Give this question some deep thought. As you do, keep this in mind: apart from the science of DNA, children FEEL themselves as 50% of you…
Read More
Recording Conversations, Reading E-mails, and Tracking Devices
May 28, 2019
/
Legal Process
/
Divorce is a time of high emotion. That emotion is often, of course, sadness over an ending marriage. But many times I visit with divorce…
Read More
The Quick, Painless, Fair, and Inexpensive Divorce
May 13, 2019
/
Legal Process
/
If you’ve ever seen the movie Princess Bride, my belief is that the “Quick, Painless, Fair, and Inexpensive Divorce” is like the belief…
Read More
What Happens When One of You Files for Divorce?
May 6, 2019
/
Legal Process
/
Divorce is a many-layered process that involves a continuum of three major events – financial, legal, but mostly emotional pain and…
Read More
Child Support in Texas – Part 2
April 26, 2019
/
Child Support
/
In my last post, I explained how monthly child support payments are calculated under the Texas Family Code. It is very much a cookie…
Read More
Child Support in Texas – Part 1
April 12, 2019
/
Child Support
/
This week’s post is the first of two parts on child support in Texas. If you follow the “letter of the law” when determining child support…
Read More
Myth Busting: What a Collaborative Divorce Is and Is Not
April 8, 2019
/
Collaborative Divorce
/
The Collaborative Divorce process is still an unknown to many people. They have either never heard of it, or if they have, they hold many…
Read More
March is Women’s History Month – Things About Women, Marriage, and Divorce in Texas You May Not Know
March 29, 2019
/
Legal Process
/
In 1975, the UN formally recognized International Women’s Day which had its beginning as far back as 1911. From that recognized day was…
Read More
Being Smart About the Cost of Divorce – Part 2
March 22, 2019
/
Legal Process
/
In my last blog, I shared how to control the financial cost of a divorce. But for most, there is a far more important cost to consider…
Read More
Being Smart About the Cost of Divorce – Part 1
February 25, 2019
/
Financial Issues
/
I wish I could tell you that divorce is cheap. Understandably, people want it to be. They want out of a marriage that has become…
Read More
How Long Does It Take to Get a Divorce?
February 15, 2019
/
Legal Process
/
This is one of the most common questions asked when a client first comes to my office. How quickly can I get a divorce? Absent special…
Read More
International Travel After Divorce (and even while married)
February 11, 2019
/
Children and Parenting
/
There are many things that married parents may take for granted with regard to their children and the decisions they can make on a day to…
Read More
Divorce in Collin County
February 1, 2019
/
Legal Process
/
One of the most frightening aspects about divorce in Collin County (or anywhere else) is the unknown about the legal process. Knowing…
Read More
The Gray Divorce and Social Security Retirement Benefits
January 28, 2019
/
Financial Issues
/
The term “gray divorce” became a more commonly used label following a study in the early 2000s by AARP showing an increase in the number…
Read More
Rhonda Cleaves Receives Best Lawyers Recognition
November 14, 2018
/
Firm News
/
I am proud to share that for the fourth year in a row, I have been recognized as a recipient of the Best Lawyers® designation in…
Read More
Finding the Right Divorce Attorney
November 2, 2018
/
Attorneys and Legal Fees
/
Divorce is by its very nature an emotionally draining process, and the emotional drain sometimes makes it hard to stay focused on things…
Read More
Taking Care of YOU in a Divorce
October 29, 2018
/
Self-care for Clients
/
Many people do not focus on the reality that a divorce is what I would call a layered continuum. It involves three essential layers…
Read More
His, Hers, and Ours – Texas Marital Property Law
October 12, 2018
/
Property and Division
/
Understanding the basics of marital property law is a must when deciding how to divide your assets and liabilities upon divorce.
Read More
No Alimony in Texas?
October 8, 2018
/
Financial Issues
/
Many people come to my office with the understanding that there is “no such thing” as alimony in Texas. That is sort of true. In Texas…
Read More
Post-Divorce Parenting – How Does Scheduling Work?
September 26, 2018
/
Children and Parenting
/
Coming to terms with the fact that you (and same for your spouse) will no longer have access to your children 100% of the time is a…
Read More
Collaborative Divorce: Who are the Professionals and are They Necessary?
January 26, 2017
/
Collaborative Divorce
/
The Texas legal community is the leader in the international collaborative divorce movement, helping couples find a more dignified way to...
Read More
I Am a Collaborative Divorce Attorney
January 26, 2017
/
Attorneys and Legal Fees
/
Who am I? I used to answer that question with: I’m a Family Law Attorney. Most people at least thought they knew what that meant.
Read More
Collaborative Divorce: The Solomon Decision or the Orange?
January 26, 2017
/
Legal Process
/
It is sometimes difficult to explain the collaborative divorce process in a few succinct words. When you hear the word “litigation,” few...
Read More
