DESERT FAMILY LAW RESOURCES AND LINKS
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Legal Support and Mediation
Gretchen Taylor is a former Los Angeles Superior Court Judge and Indio Superior Court Commissioner in the family law departments who has uncommon expertise and an outstanding personality. She is available for mediation and private judging.
Woody Mosten is one of the foremost mediators of our times. His practice is in Brentwood, California, although he teaches mediation to lawyers and other professionals all over the country. He is an incredibly wise and generous human being. He is also presently training Attorney Thurman Arnold in the art of divorce peacemaking.
Barry Noble provides real estate appraisal services for purposes of valuing property in dissolution and in estate matters throughout the Coachella Valley.
Ayotte & Shackelford are the premier court reporters in the Coachella Valley and have been serving us for 30 years.
Coachella Valley Therapists and Stress Reduction
Dr. Gary Lange is a Palm Desert specialist dealing with gambling and addiction issues.
Jaime R. Carlo-Casellas, Ph.D is an amazing resource for us. He was trained by his friend Jon Kabat-Zinn.
Couples Therapy
Paul Zak, LCSW, is a former Catholic priest who uses IMAGO techniques, psychotherapy, and spiritual principles in assisting individuals and couples in healing in all contexts.
Child Custody, Parenting and Abduction
Transforming parenting the pro-child way is an essential tool for lawyers who wish to assist their clients overcome parenting reactivity - and an essential tool for those very parents themselves!
A free, confidential, and interactive website for divorcing and divorced parents who want to protect their children from divorce harm.
The OJD Family Law Website provides information about family law services and resources in Oregon, and offers optional statewide forms for use in family law proceedings.
Riverside County, California, site for the Department of Public Social Services
Riverside County, California.
Provides access to information and resources to help protect children and strengthen families on a wide range of topics from prevention to permanency, including child welfare, child abuse and neglect, foster care, and adoption. Information for all states.
The Children’s Rights Council is an global leader in the advocacy, development and delivery of services and information addressing rights and responsibilities in the “best interest” of children.
Find links to government and other kids' sites.
Free help for family law is now available on the Internet for the estimated 4.3 million Californians who represent themselves in court each year
Resources for parents and guardians, law enforcement, child care providers, and attorneys involving missing or exploited children.
Child Quest International is an organization dedicated to the prevention and recovery of missing, abused, and exploited children. We believe education is an essential element in keeping our youth safe. Providing awareness and safety education to children, teens, pre-teens, and parents is the foundation for our goal to stop child victimization.
This site presents general information concerning the Hague Conference as well as detailed and updated information on the Hague Conventions: texts of the Conventions, full status reports, bibliographies, information regarding the authorities designated under the Conventions on judicial and administrative co-operation, explanatory reports, etc.
OurFamilyWizard is web based tool for parents to help parents communicate mindfully over parenting schedules and support and child based reimbursements. It will help you to dial down your parenting conflict. Please see our review of this product:
Arnold Blog OurFamilyWizard
Resources for Women
An amazing online resource for women by women who are attempting to get a fresh start after divorce.
Collaborative Law and Practice and Practitioners
This is an outstanding group of professionals who assist collaborative divorce throughout Southern California, and the only collaborative team in the Coachella Valley.
Bev Jewel is an outstanding and energetic collaborative divorce coach who works with Collaborative Divorce Services. She works with women in divorce or who are involved in family law contests.
Marvin recently received his doctorate this year and is a terrific divorce coach for men. Like Beverly Jewel, he is a founding member of the Coachella Divorce Services collaborative team.
Brian Don Levy is an expert family law attorney based in Covina. He too is a founding member of Coachella Divorce Services, and is available for collaborative cases and mediation throughout southern California.
The collaborative model was created in Minnesota and this site provides a good explication of its principles.
This is a California collaborative practice organization in California.
Paul Tessler has written an excellent book for describing how collaborative practices work.
This is a useful explanation for clients considering utilizing collaborative law to resolve their marital breakups in a nonadversarial setting. Please review it to see whether collaborative process might work for you.
Meditation, Mindfulness and Spiritual Teachers
Eckhart Tolle wonderfully exposes the addiction of the mind to repetitive thinking, and provides insight into overcoming the experiences of those of us who think to hard and believe what our minds tell us!
Trudy Goodman formed this organization in Los Angeles. One of her contemporaries is Jack Kornfield. This is a nearby resource of spiritual teaching which otherwise is mostly to be found in northern California.
I have attended numerous silent retreats with Adyashanti at Asilomar and Mount Madonna in northern California and have found his teachings to be personally incredibly valuable to my own small awakenings.
This is an outstanding book which combines Buddhist principles with psychology. Jack Kornfield is at the apex of the spiritual pyramid. I was fortunate to attend a silent retreat with this teacher and Trudy Goodman at Mount Madonna in September, 2008 on the subject of the Wise Heart.
This is a good introduction to Adyashanti's writings.
Ram Dass discusses aging and disability following his 1999 stroke in this outstanding ode to what comes next for us all.
Jon Kabat-Zinn pioneered MBSR and mindfulness training among physicians. He is an outstanding author and teacher.
This is a really good description of all that one needs to do in order to meditate.
UCLA has developed Kabat-Zinn's teachings as the western bulwark of American mindfulness.
This is an outstanding resource for folks living in central northern California.
Jon Kabat-Zinn developed his mindfulness programs here.
Kirtan is devotional singing to God (all of them). Jai Uttal and Daniel Paul are often featured on this site.
This is a good site for exploring whatever spiritual themes move you.
Mindful Divorce Resources
Kim Wright has created an amazing site. What would law be like if we consciously designed it for the benefit of everyone? What if we integrated our personal and spiritual values into our work and helped our clients fashion sustainable solutions that honored their values, too? What if we aspired to win/win solutions while realizing that sometimes we just do the best we can in a tough situation? What if we turned our attention and skills to solving the world's big problems, honoring that voice within us that knows we were called to greatness? What if that greatness is expressed by just being the best we can in our own lives?
What we all desire is peace and the end of suffering. This is a useful tool for people going through divorce proceedings or difficult family transitions.
This is an excellent description of the attitudes that will help us overcome the resentments of relationship breakup.
This is an alias for my website, which expresses one lawyer's vision of how we can reconfigure and reframe the experience of divorce.
Mindful and Holistic Law Societies and Associations
This is a cutting edge group of lawyers who care more about their roles in helping to heal clients than in earning outrageous fees.
The Institute for Mindfulness Studies (IMS) brings the contemplative practice of mindfulness to practitioners of law by offering mindfulness insights and instruction in techniques specifically designed for attorneys. Our mission is to improve the quality of life and practice for attorneys and law students and to contribute to the re-establishment of society’s recognition of the challenging and admirable role played by attorneys.
The Institute for Mindfulness Studies brings the contemplative practice of mindfulness to persons of all ages, interests, professions, and backgrounds. Using cutting-edge neuroscience research to complement the ancient traditions surrounding mindfulness and other contemplative practices, the Institute for Mindfulness Studies (IMS) offers classical meditation-based and technique oriented exercises to instruct, reinforce, and elaborate on methods of cultivating states of mindful awareness.
The Center for Contemplative Mind in Society works to integrate contemplative awareness into contemporary life in order to help create a more just, compassionate, reflective, and sustainable society.
Conscious Lawyer, Inc. is an online resource dedicated to exploring emerging trends in the law and to devising creative legal solutions to ongoing societal issues that are not being addressed through traditional legal means.
Mindfulness Resources for Lawyers
This book is subversive. It aims to undermine the legal profession’s prevailing gladiatorial paradigm. It is, to use Professor Leonard Riskin’s phrase, something off “the lawyer’s standard philosophical map.” It promises a vision of practicing law that is very different than that taught in most American law schools.
Article published in the American Bar Association about the benefits to attorneys and clients of mindfulness practices.
Except from Halpern's new book "Making Waves and Riding the Currents: Activism and the Practice of Wisdom," recounts how he decided to break free of Big Law to create a life that fed his soul.
The benefits of mediation for lawyers and judges.
A sustainable legal practice is one that provides services clients are seeking but does not deplete the energy or soul of the practitioner. Such a practice unfolds in the context of renewal. It’s not just about surviving and avoiding burn out; sustainability is also about continuously renewing the lawyer’s spirit, about feeding her soul and contributing to her physical, emotional and spiritual well being.
Recent state and national surveys of attorneys reveal a profession that is suffering from cumulative and
sustained stress. Career dissatisfaction is at an all-time high. Stress reduction is one antidote.
Outstanding text for therapists and professionals, and individuals, teaching the benefits and a practice of forgiveness. A bit technical.
A Look at the “remedial” aspect of meditation, the aspect most familiar to the public at large: meditation as stress-buster or as a way of managing the pressures of life. But beyond the salutary effect of “fixing what ails us,” meditation offers other benefits.
An article in Shambala Sun about a Judge in Illinois awakened to mindfulness principles.
Offering a unique and diverse curriculum whose sole purpose is to raise a mediator's level of practice, the AIM Institute is where leading mediators turn to continue their learning and career development. Being free of academic constraints and embracing other disciplines allows AIM to expand the frontier of this developing profession.
Christian Resources
Sold Rock was founded by Thurman's cousin, the Rev. Drew Arnold. It is a Christian summer program based in Laramie, Wyoming, modeled after Outward Bound, where youths are taught wilderness skills and Christian values.
Loma Linda is a Christian College in southern California. It includes the prestigious Loma Linda University Medical Center, and the world known Loma Linda Children's Hospital where Baby Faye underwent the worst infant heart transplant in 1984. Thurman is currently attending its Masters Program in Family Studies.
Hiring an Attorney/Attorney Client Fee Disputes
This is a discussion that might assist you in matching the qualities in your family law attorney with your own values.
This is a sample form for clients wishing to arbitrate fee disputes with their former lawyers.
These rules govern the arbitration of fee disputes.
If an attorney sues you for fees, you can stay the action pending an arbitration.
Government and Legal Associations
Public access to all information concerning California Courts and the court system.
Public access to the Riverside County Courts and dockets.
Riverside jury services; requests to postpone jury service.
Indio Superior Court case records, including docket searches for family law cases pending in Indio.
Public access to San Diego Superior Court.
Public access to San Bernardino Superior Court.
Public access to Orange County Superior Court.
Public access to the Los Angeles Superior Courts.
California statutes updated through 2008.
California business searches, including corporations, agents for service of process.
Research the reported disciplinary history of any California attorney.
The RCBA was created in 1894 to encourage social interaction between the bench and the bar. Over the years, they have evolved into a professional organization that provides many valuable services to both member attorneys and the public.
The Desert Bar Association is a professional association of civil and criminal lawyers practicing within the Desert Judicial District of the Coachella Valley, comprising the desert cities of Palm Springs, Rancho Mirage, Cathedral City, Palm Desert, Desert Hot Springs, Thousand Palms, Indian Wells, La Quinta, Indio, Coachella, Thermal and Mecca.
There is a wealth of legal information in this site.
Useful resources for Orange County residents.
The is the premier American Bar organization. There is much useful information available for public access free of charge.
California Lawyer is a monthly magazine that combines hard-hitting legal news, case commentary, and coverage of technology and business trends. Each issue contains news, reviews, profiles, and opinion.
The LII is known internationally as a leading “law-not-com” provider of public legal information. They offer all opinions of the United States Supreme Court handed down since 1992, together with over 600 earlier decisions selected for their historic importance, over a decade of opinions of the New York Court of Appeals, and the full United States Code.
This locator links to state laws which correspond to Uniform Laws in the subject areas of matrimony and family. In cases where the text of the Uniform Law, as originally promulgated, is available on the Net it also links to it.
The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is a federal agency funding state, territory, local, and tribal organizations to provide family assistance (welfare), child support, child care, Head Start, child welfare, and other programs relating to children and families.
This site is all about crime prevention and victims of crime.
California State Bar Publications
Family Policy Websites
Comprehensive background information and links on major U.S. public policy issues, including education, the environment, crime, health policy, economic issues, social welfare, and foreign policy.
Transitional Family Resources is sponsored by a group of passionately committed southern California professionals who have joined in order to collaboratively share unique and complementary expertise, insights, and resources with those of us challenged by the transitions that all human beings encounter as we move through the phases of today's life cycles.
The National Council on Family Relations (NCFR), founded in 1938, provides an educational forum for family researchers, educators, and practitioners to share in the development and dissemination of knowledge about families and family relationships, establishes professional standards, and works to promote family well-being.
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MDRC - Nonprofit, nonpartisan social policy research organization, especially with low-income people
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CLASP - Policy Analysts and Lawyers, experts on family policy issues
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ChildTrends - dedicated to improving the lives of children through science based information
Domestic Violence
The California Partnership to End Domestic Violence is a catalyst and advocate for social change through innovative solutions to ensure safety and justice for victims and survivors of domestic violence and their children.
SFTS is our desert cities shelter for victims of intimate partner abuse.
This is the number one question most people want to understand. The question, however, should be "Why does he batter?" The question why does she stay places the blame on the victim. The reality is that the majority of battered women make heroic efforts at leaving, but because of the reasons listed here, most are unsuccessful.
Legal information, help and support for women, teens, and girls living with or escaping domestic violence or sexual assault (custody, divorce, restraining orders, orders of protection, immigration, military law, tribal law, kidnapping, stalking, dating violence, and more).
An American Bar Association publication.
Substance Abuse and Recovery
The Betty Ford Center is the alcohol treatment center and drug rehabilitation clinic for families suffering from narcotic and chemical dependency and addiction to alcohol and other drugs
For individuals, families, and communities struggling with addiction to alcohol and other drugs, Hazelden helps people transform their lives by providing the best addiction treatment and recovery services as well as education, research, and publishing products available today.
AA meetings within the desert cities.
All support meetings within the Coachella Valley.
Gary Lange is a Palm Desert specialist dealing with gambling and addiction issues.
DrugWatch.com provides up-to-date information on the side effects of common prescription and over-the-counter medications.
Helpful Blawgs
We are striving to bring you all kinds of answers and information to help inform your family decisions.
Tax and Financial Advice for Divorcing Couples
Retreat Centers
JTRC is the oldest and largest retreat center in the Western United States; a unique architectural landmark on a 420 acre sacred site.
Mount Madonna Center is a conference and retreat center located on 355 acres of mountain-top redwood forest and grassland overlooking Monterey Bay, between Santa Cruz and Monterey, in Northern California.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center is dedicated to the teachings of the Buddha as presented in the vipassana tradition. The practice of mindful awareness, called Insight or Vipassana Meditation, is at the heart of all the activities at Spirit Rock.
Shambhala Mountain Center is a mountain valley retreat located on 600 acres in northern Colorado. Since 1971 the Center has offered hundreds of programs on Buddhist meditation, yoga and other contemplative disciplines.
Asilomar State Beach is located on the Monterey Peninsula in the city of Pacific Grove, California, USA. Nestled along the shoreline of California's famed Monterey Peninsula, Asilomar is a tranquil ocean front retreat cradled by forests and white sand beaches.
Esalen is a non-profit organization that has been devoted to the exploration of human potential since the 1960's. Historical luminaries like Aldous Huxley, Joseph Campbell, Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, Joan Baez, and countless others have gathered here to develop revolutionary ideas, transformative practices, and innovative art forms.
The Garrison Institute explores the intersection of contemplation and engaged action in the world. Founded in 2003, our mission is to apply the transformative power of contemplation to today's pressing social and environmental concerns, helping build a more compassionate, resilient future.
Deepak Chopra, M.D. and David Simon, M.D. opened the Chopra Center for Wellbeing in 1996 to help people experience physical healing, emotional freedom, and higher states of consciousness. Located in Carlsbad, California, we offer a wide variety of programs, retreats, and teacher training programs that integrate the healing arts of the East with the best in modern Western medicine
Mountain Stream Meditation Center supports Buddhist Meditation in the Northern California Sierra Foothills area.
Founded in 1977 by Stephan Rechtschaffen, M.D., and Elizabeth Lesser, Omega Institute for Holistic Studies was inspired by scholar and Eastern meditation teacher, Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan.
Estate Planning and Health Care
A simple do it yourself California AHCD
A more complicated form of AHCD.
ELDER ABUSE AND ELDER INFORMATION
General
The NAELA membership is comprised of attorneys in the private and public sectors who deal with legal issues affecting seniors and people with disabilities. Members also include judges, professors of law, and students.
PFAC is committed to provide information to the membership on economic, social and political developments likely to affect the professional fiduciary; to provide continuing education and promote minimum standards in the administration of conservatorships, guardianships, trusts, estates and durable powers of attorney; to build and maintain awareness of this association among families, attorneys, probate court officials, various city and county agencies, and among present and potential fiduciaries; to provide advocacy with the state legislature; and to cooperate with the courts of this state.
Get valuable information about the VA Aid & Attendance Benefit Program from VeteranAid.org.
Advocacy for Seniors; Avoiding Elder Abuse
Elder Fraud
Assisted Living, Residential Care
Nursing Homes for the Elderly
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California Nursing Home Guide California- Advocates for Nursing Home Reform's guide to nursing homes in California. Includes citations, complaints, and financial information.
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National Decubitus Foundation- Information about bedsores in nursing home residents and hospital patients; provides education about avoiding bedsores.
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Eden Alternative- Encourages making companion animals and nature part of the nursing home environment.
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Nursing Home Compare- Medicare's reports on all nursing homes that are certified for Medicaid and Medicare. Includes information about residents and staff based on annual inspections. Some data may be outdated or inaccurate, according to the Government Accountability Office, so your may want to use the web site mainly as a starting point for further research.
Senior Web Sites
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Administration on Aging- US Department of Health; statistics about aging, news updates, information for caregivers.
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Benefits Checkup- National Council on Aging's guide to identifying state and federal benefits for seniors.
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Elder Care Locator- Administration on Aging; helps you locate senior resources in your community.
Pro Bono Opportunities
The American Bar Association's Military Pro Bono Project connects active-duty military personnel to free legal assistance for civil legal issues beyond the scope of services provided by a military legal assistance office.
Special Olympics brings the adventure and value of sport to people with intellectual disabilities. If you're a fan of fun, courage, determination, spirit, dignity and respect, you're already a fan of Special Olympics.
Divorce Studies and Statistics
On-Line Divorce Sites (Informational - Finding Lawyers, Other Experts)
GoogleBot Links
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