Karen Ball, Attorney at Law

The following videos, from VeraHouse.org, were filmed in American Sign Language and include voiced narration and text captioning.

Click on the video below you wish to view:

• Vera House & Project Emerge
• Rape & Sexual Assault
• Healthy Relationships
• Healthy Sexuality
• Domestic Violence
• Safety Planning

These videos are some of the first in the United States to provide information on domestic and sexual violence accessible not only to Deaf but to all. (more…)

I am one of the Expert Contributors to ParentalWisdom.com, a wonderful website where parents can ask questions and more than one professional related to that subject matter will provide an answer. The advantage is that you get three, four or more responses from different experts so you can determine for yourself which answers best suit your situation. It’s a wonderful concept and I highly recommend that every parent takes advantage of this scope of expertise at ParentalWisdom.com.

One of the questions recently sent to me focused on an issue that many divorced parents face with mounting frustration. (more…)

Unfortunately, our society has glorified competition and celebrated winning to the point where children have a difficult time competing in a healthy way. In sports, we see parents who get extremely upset when their kids don’t win the game. As adults, we tend to think only of the benefits of competition, which leads us to encourage competition in our children as a way of preparing them to succeed in life.

While it’s true that healthy competition can increase a child’s energy and spirit, it also can interfere with good performance and even lead to depression. (more…)

I recently came across this article on ChildCenteredDivorce.com, here’s an except and a link to the article.

Grieving the “Loss” of Divorce
By Jackie Black, Ph.D.

Divorce is one of the biggest loss events in life.

There are three important things to remember:

Simply stated, you need to hire an attorney when the benefit you receive from having the attorney on your “team” outweighs the cost of doing so.  Selecting a lawyer is a personal matter, whether the situation is business, real estate, domestic or probate.

Legal professionals can be an integral part of your team, assisting you in understanding the legal regulations and/or forms, filing things that require legal assistance, educating you about the “rules”, and helping to devise “strategy”. (more…)

What is the cost of a divorce, dissolution of marriage, or agreement to terminate a domestic partnership?

Each attorney sets his or her own fees.  Costs and payment arrangements can vary quite a bit. I usually refuse to give a specific “price” or estimate for the costs of a divorce, dissolution of marriage, or agreement to terminate a domestic partnership because there are so many factors that influence the amount of time it will take to complete the work for my client.  There may also be court costs, depending on the type of case it is.
Fees are based on an hourly rate. The amount of time I spend on a case will increase with the number of issues which are disputed, and with the complexity of those issues.
Factors that affect the amount of time required, and thus the cost of a proceeding are: (more…)

With ContemporaryCouples.com, you no longer have to leave your relationship to chance. Using a telephone and Internet access, you can join gay & lesbian couples and singles from around the country in one of our live web seminars and start learning today from the comfort of your own home or office. Our interactive online training can help strengthen happy relationships, rebuild troubled ones, and teach singles the skills they need to find and keep the partner they want.

It important to understand the process for domestic actions.  Here are the basics:

If you believe that your partner or spouse will be able and willing to enter into an Agreement with you, the process may begin with a simple letter offering to send a Settlement.  If the various items can be negotiated, and the parties can reach agreement, most of the work will be done with an “Agreed” entry of some sort that gets filed with the county court.

Most everything includes an initial filing of some sort in the county court where one of the parties has resided for a defined period of time. (more…)

Ending an relationship may be a particularly upsetting event, involving many uncertainties and emotions. If an ending is unavoidable, or in your best interest, an attorney can guide you in protecting your rights.

Various procedures may be used to end a marriage that breaks down, including annulment, separation, dissolution or divorce.
If a marriage falls apart its termination will require a legal proceeding.  That court proceeding legally terminates the marriage and makes provisions for the parenting of minor children, family support, and division of property and liabilities. (more…)

In addition to the emotional side of ending a relationship (which may, in fact, be the largest) there are two basic prongs to get handled.  If they are addressed separately things can be kept clearer and decisions can often be made more easily.  Until all of the items shown below, in both parts of the case are resolved, written down, and approved by the court, there is no final judgment.

1. Split of assets and liabilities – the “things” – all relationships have this part! If there are no children, then it’s all about things.  (Some folks say, “It’s all about the money.”) (more…)

There are many tools that individuals and couples can use to work on their relationships, or decide what to do when a relationship starts to fail.  Here are tools with which I’ve worked and had success.

A.  For those having trouble in their relationships, and trying to decide what to do, I suggest the following: (more…)