Resources
Recommended Reading - Books For You
Family lawyers, financial specialists, child experts, and a variety of therapists have collaborated to provide useful and empowering information to assist local couples in taking control of their divorce process.
Crazy Time by Abigail Trafford - Intelligent, insightful, and based on Abigail Trafford's personal experience, extensive research, and interviews with hundreds of divorced men and women, Crazy Time charts the emotional journey of the breakup of a marriage--identifying the common phases that lead to separation, divorce, and, eventually, to a new life.
Mom's House, Dad's House: A Complete Guide for Parents Who Are Separated, Divorced, or Remarried by Isolina Ricci
The Good Divorce by Conj Ahrons
After The Affair by Janis Spring - One of the most devastating of blows to a relationship is that of infidelity. Janis Abrahms Spring, Ph.D. is a clinical supervisor at Yale University who also specializes in dealing with couples faced with infidelity.
Joint Custody with a Jerk: Raising A Child With An Uncooperative Ex by Ross & Judy Corcoran - This hands-on, practical guide offers many proven comunication techniques that will not only help readers deal with a difficult ex-husband or ex-wife by describing examples of common problems, but also teach them how to examine their roles in these sticky situations
Tug of War: A Judge's Verdict on Separation, Custody Battles, and the Bitter Realities of Family Court by Harvey Brownstone Explaining complex family law concepts and procedures in a jargon-free style, this resource includes detailed information on how family court works, offers easily understandable case examples, and describes alternatives to litigation that are designed to help prevent families with children from entering the legal system to resolve disputes.
Recommended Reading - Books For Children
Dinosaurs Divorce: A Guide for Changing Families by Marc Brown - Text and illustrations of dinosaur characters introduce aspects of divorce such as its causes and effects, living with a single parent, spending holidays in two separate households, and adjusting to a stepparent.
Standing On My Own Two Feet by Tamara Schmitz - Addison is a regular kid whose parents are going through a divorce, but he knows that no matter what happens, his parents will always love him. The text in this beautifully illustrated picture book is inspiring, gentle, and uplifting, and teaches kids that having two homes to live in can be just as great as having two strong feet to stand on.
Two Homes by Claire Masurel -"Parents looking for a book about separation or divorce will find few offerings as positive, matter-of-fact, or child-centered as this one. . . . Simple, yet profoundly satisfying. - BOOKLIST (starred review) At Mommy's house, Alex has a soft chair. At Daddy's house, Alex has a rocking chair. In each home, Alex also has a special bedroom and lots of friends to play with. But whether Alex is with Mommy or with Daddy, one thing always stays the same - Alex is loved.
Divorce Is Not The End Of The World: Zoe's And Evan's Coping Guide For Kids by Evan & Zoe Stern - Zoe and Evan Stern know firsthand how it feels when your parents divorce. When their parents split they knew their lives would change but they didn''t know how. A few years later, when they were 15 and 13 years old, they decided to share their experience in this positive and practical guide for kids.
The following are helpful links to information which may be of interest to you.
Collaborative Practice Simcoe County: A list of lawyers, financial specialists, divorce coaches and parenting coaches in our county.Family Law Legislation:All related to Family Law.
Divorce Magazine: Wonderful articles about the divorce experience. You are not alone!
Summary of Family Law: A government pamphlet summarizing Family Law.
Family Responsibility Office: Government agency that collects support.
Collaborative Family Law Federation: An umbrella organization for the Collaborative Practice groups in Ontario.
International Academy of Collaborative Professionals: The international organization situated in U.S.
Family Mediation Canada and Ontario Association for Family Mediation: These sites offer information about mediation as a way of reaching an agreement.
Office of the Children's Lawyer: Government site explaining the role of appointed lawyers or social workers who represent the views of children during the Court process.
Rainbows: An excellent peer support program for children.
Parents Without Partners: The Toronto Chapter of an international, non-profit, non-sectarian, educational organization devoted to the welfare of single parents and their children.
Fathers Are Capable Too: F.A.C.T. is an organization of both men and women working to support children's rights to have a relationship with both parents.
Pension Valuators of Canada: This site is an excellent resource of information about property division issues especially if you own a pension. We use this company for our clients.
Pension Appraisal Solutions: This is another excellent pension appraiser we use. The site has a lot of great information too.
Links to Collaborative Practice groups across Ontario: Ottawa, Toronto, Niagara, Nippissing, Brant/Haldimand/Norfolk, London, York Region, Kitchener/Waterloo, Hamilton/Halton, Durham Region, Quinte, Peel/Halton.