Attorney Jan Walden

Attorney Jan Walden

My first contact with family court was many years ago when I was the Special Master of the Fourth Circuit Court of Davidson County. I investigated custody cases and submitted a factual report (no recommendations) to the Judge to assist him in his rulings. I often sat in the courtroom and observed high powered lawyers going at clients and each other in an effort to zealously represent their clients. I was encouraged by the Judge to go to law school and I believed from the very beginning that it was my job as an attorney to keep my clients out of court. I have always believed that it is the responsibility of all professionals whether Judges, attorneys, mediators or mental health professionals, not to make the divorce worse than the marriage. I believe that divorce is a problem to be solved, not a battle to be fought. When clients seek my help they are often emotionally raw and unable to use their integrated brain—operating from emotional brain and not the thinking brain. They are often focused on their role as a victim and are sad, angry but above all scared. I believe that people fight out of fear—fear that they won’t get a fair shake—fear that they will be taken advantage of and most often fear about their children. Understandably so.

In the almost 25 years that I have been a family and divorce mediator I have not met parents who do not care about their children. They are sometimes totally in the dark about how to protect them as the divorce proceeds, but for the most part I believe they are teachable when it comes to the needs of their children as they transition to spending time with each parent in different homes. I realize that some parents are unable or unwilling to shield their children from their conflict; or there may be safety issues resulting from coercive controlling domestic violence; there may be serious physical or mental illness such as personality disorders; chemical dependency or allegation of sexual abuse which present extraordinary challenges in creating an appropriate parenting plan. In may be impossible for the parents to agree and these are the cases when court cannot be avoided and the Judge has the overwhelming responsibility to create the best possible parenting plan in view of all the circumstances.

My belief is that the adversarial atmosphere of the courtroom should be a last resort. I believe that parties owe it to themselves and most definitely to their children to at least attempt a peaceful resolution of their divorce and parenting issues. I have dedication my professional life to assisting clients in protecting their emotional health and that of their children as well as protecting the family from the high cost of contested litigation. There is a better way.

I will meet with parties for 30 minutes at no charge to discuss the options available when facing divorce.

Jan Walden

Area of Practices

DIVORCE

UNCONTESTED DIVORCE

If you and your spouse have agreed to divorce and further agreed on all divorce issues Jan can represent one of you for an uncontested divorce.

DIVORCE ISSUES:
The division of the marital estate which includes everything accumulated during the marriage, regardless of how it is titled, with the exception of inheritance or gifts.
The payment of the debts accumulated during marriage.
The payment of alimony based upon need and ability to pay. Parties can agree to waive alimony when appropriate.
The Parenting Plan for the care and support of minor children, including a detailed schedule of when the children will be with each parent.
Child support based upon the child support guidelines. The relevant information is the gross monthly income of each parent, the out of pocket expense for health insurance, the cost of daycare, and the time the children are scheduled to be with each parent. Parents cannot agree to waive child support or deviate from the child support guidelines without the approval of the Court that the deviation is in the best interest of the children.

COLLABORATIVE DIVORCE

If you know that the divorce is inevitable but cannot convince your spouse that mediation will save time and money; or if either of you do not feel comfortable in moving forward without an attorney representing your own interests, you might consider each of you engaging an attorney who practice collaborative law and is willing to work with the other attorney in an effort to reach a settlement. While this process is not always less expensive than a contested divorce, the goal is a fair settlement without Court intervention. The only need for a court appearance would be the final hearing when the Judge approves your marital dissolution agreement and parenting plan (if applicable) and grants the divorce.

The main difference in this process and the litigation process is that the two of you and your respective attorneys enter into an initial contract providing that all issues will be settled outside the courtroom. Each party consults with his/her attorney and a series of meetings with both parties and attorneys present are held to negotiate an agreement, addressing all the issues required by the Court for the divorce to be granted.