Tried a biweekly check-in with my ex and it actually reduced our lawyer bills by $800

After six months of fighting over every little thing through lawyers, I suggested to my ex that we meet every two weeks at a coffee shop for 30 minutes to hash out the small stuff ourselves. We set ground rules: no yelling, stick to a timer, and write down what we agreed on. It was awkward at first but after three sessions we actually started finding common ground on minor issues like holiday schedules and who keeps the blender. Our lawyers only had to handle the big legal filings instead of every email argument. This saved us about $800 in billable hours over two months. Has anyone else tried a structured sit-down with their ex and did it backfire or help?

2 comments

2 Comments

xenagarcia12d ago

My cousin tried this with her ex and it went totally off the rails when they started arguing about who gets the air fryer. They ended up spending that $800 on a mediator just to figure out kitchen gadgets.

phoenix2913d ago

Building that habit of small agreements first probably builds enough trust to tackle bigger stuff later too. Smart to start with the blender level stuff before the big money fights.