Family businesses possess great strengths — and potentially devastating weaknesses. One weakness involves the challenge of planning for a day when some or all family members leave the business. On November 1, 2009, the New York Times ran an article by Charles V. Bagli titled “Flipping a Coin, Dividing an Empire.” In it, he described […]
Read more...Many, perhaps most, families find it difficult to talk about estate planning. Parents may be uncomfortable with the idea that their adult children would have any input in the planning process. Without that input, parents may make decisions that seem wise, but are based on mistaken beliefs and impressions. Some may be uncomfortable informing their […]
Read more...On October 28, 2009, New Haven’s Community Mediation, Inc. celebrated 20 Years of Peacemaking to mark the retirement (at least from CM) of its long-time Executive Director, Charlie Pillsbury. The event also honored two former CM Board Presidents, Alison Bonds and Ronald Netter, and peer mediators in New Haven public schools. Volunteer adult mediators, peer […]
Read more...I was scheduled to speak at Fowler Nursing Center, Guilford, CT on Thursday, October 29, 2009 at 7:00. That talk has been postponed as a precaution against H1N1. As Connecticut shoreline residents know, Guilford has been hard hit by H1N1. So many students have been struck by it, that school administrators decided to close Guilford […]
Read more...On October 22, 2009 I gave a presentation on Crisis Intervention in Elder Mediation at VNA Community Healthcare in Guildford, CT. This presentation was a “return engagement” in a sense: in April, I had given an overview of elder mediation, including how it fits into mediation as a field and how it fits into the […]
Read more...Yesterday’s New York Times included an article by Lesley Alderman titled “When Elder Care Problems Escalate, You Can Hire an Expert.” The article described the valuable role that geriatric care managers can play in helping elderly loved ones age safely. When families need help with health assessments, living accommodations, medication management, attending doctors’ appointments, finding […]
Read more...On September 24, 2009, I had the good fortune to speak to the Women in Business group of the Hamden Chamber of Commerce. We started with some general, very interactive, discussion about common causes of conflict, at home and on the job. As you might expect, kids, spouses, co-workers, and the people we need to […]
Read more...Last week, I had the welcome opportunity to talk to the Shoreline Eldercare Alliance about elder mediation at their regular meeting in East Haven, Connecticut. The Shoreline Eldercare Alliance, or SEA, describes itself as “a group of ethical business owners and representatives of area organizations who provide senior adults and community members with information, resource […]
Read more...In the New York Times “Wealth Matters” column on September 5, 2009, Paul Sullivan wrote about a dispute between neighbors in “Somebody’s Watching … And Ready to Sue.” He described the case of Westport, CT neighbors feuding over a stone wall that cost $170,000 to install in 2005. Since then, the couple that built the […]
Read more...A few days ago, a party to a conflict described to me the root of the problem, from this person’s perspective: “He shouldn’t have to be told; he should know.” This concept is a common one in conflicts involving people with ongoing relationships: business partners or co-workers, families struggling to manage jointly-held assets, families grappling […]
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