One of the issues that causes the most acrimony is personal property. Who’s going to get the china set, who’s going to get the couch. And the best advise I can give you is don’t get bogged down on that sort of thing.

What I try to tell clients is it’s just stuff and it’s certainly not worth spending hundreds of dollars an hour in counsel fees. The best solution that I can give you if you really can’t agree is first go through the house together and each make a list of what you want. All the items that are on both lists should be the subject of a third list. Flip a coin and pick alternately until you’re done.

To involve lawyers is to generally spend more than the value of all of the property, and it is really a waste of money. Think about what it would cost to go to a meeting with two lawyers for three hours and ask yourself couldn’t that money be better spent sending the kids to camp or going on vacation.