Mediate Michigan

I have clients going through the divorce process who fight furiously over possessions that, in the end, aren’t really beneficial to them at all. One prime example was a woman in her mid-30s who was hell-bent on keeping the house. She had gone to great lengths to decorate it, worked hard to make her fair share of the house payments, and was willing to spend whatever it took to keep that house. She spent thousands in legal fees defending her position and won in the end. It wasn’t long, however, before she realized that she really couldn’t afford the payments or the upkeep! Indeed, she won the battle but, as they say, lost the war. It would have been wiser for her to sell that asset, take the proceeds, and buy a place that was better suited to her pocketbook and her peace of mind.

I always take plenty of time to go over the inventory of assets a client has and ask him or her to make a three-part list:

• Things they must have

• Things they would like to keep

• Things they could easily part with

via Stacy D. Phillips: Fighting Just to Win: Is It Worth It?.