People magazine called Laura Wasser “the celebrity of celebrity divorce attorneys,” which makes sense considering she has—according to Wikipedia—handled cases for A-listers like Angelina Jolie, Kim Kardashian, Johnny Depp, Ryan Reynolds, Dr. Dre, Kevin Costner, Maria Shriver, and Jimmy Iovine, among many others.
And while “celebrity divorce attorney” might conjure up images of a rapacious shark in Prada boots squeezing every dollar out of her clients’ exes, Laura preaches the gospel of divorce with dignity. Her book, "It Doesn’t Have to Be That Way: How to Divorce Without Destroying Your Family or Bankrupting Yourself," is a jungle guide for ending a marriage while preserving decency, values, and a couple’s wealth. As she writes, “…the more acrimony, argument, and angst, the more money your attorney makes. We profit from your inability to resolve issues.”
In other words, don’t pay your lawyer $1,000/hr to determine—as famously captured in When Harry Met Sally—who gets the “stupid, wagon wheel, Roy Rogers, garage sale coffee table.”
Her book is a plea to all those going through one of the most stressful human experiences possible to summon your best self and think about who you want to be when the dust settles.
Laura and Paul talk about the fundamental language of divorce, including:
Spousal support
Child support
No-fault divorce
Community property
The more philosophical dimensions of the process, like the concept of “fairness” and how one defines “winning.”
Sincere thanks to Paul’s former Facebook colleague, Matt Jacobson, for making the connection to Laura.
About Crazy Money:
Unlike traditional personal finance shows, Crazy Money is not about how to make a million bucks, how to beat the stock market, or how to save money by switching cable providers. It is about deciding what role we want money to play in our lives and how we can use it to achieve our best selves.
Crazy Money is edited by Mike Carano. Are you really still reading?
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