Estate Planning Through a Divorce
Please join the Essex County Estate Planning Council on Thursday, Sept. 17, 2015 for an educational breakfast featuring Jeff Melick, Esq., from Kates & Barlow, PC, who will discuss Estate Planning Through a Divorce.
Description
Learn what your clients can expect from a divorce, how you can help them through the process and how you can plan in advance to protect their assets.
Registration
Registration is required for this event.
Fees are as follows: Members and first-time guests of members, $35; Non-members, $60.
Payment may be made online, at the door, or by check made out to the Essex County Estate Planning Council and mailed to:
About Our Speaker
Jeffrey C. Melick is a seasoned litigator with more than 30 years of experience in the practice of law. His area of concentration covers all aspects of domestic relations litigation including divorce, alimony, custody, child support, parenting plans, modification and paternity issues. He also prepares premarital and marital agreements, which can help reduce litigation and adverse implications of a divorce. Mr. Melick’s reputation for excellence has been built on his extensive trial and appellate experience in the state and federal courts. He also handles appeals in all courts.
Mr. Melick has earned the designation of Certified Financial Litigator by the American Academy of Certified Financial Litigators. He has also completed a four-day divorce and family law mediation course with Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education, Inc., (MCLE) and obtained a certification pursuant to Supreme Judicial Court Rule 1:18 for the provision of mediation services in court appointed cases. He also provides private mediation services for couples without a court order, which can be provided either before or after a divorce action is filed. Mediation serves as a helpful alternative to litigation where couples work together to dissolve their marriage. It also assists parties with issues arising after a divorce has been entered, such as issues with a parenting plan or college costs. Mediation is designed to reduce the expense and delay associated with litigation while increasing the chance of securing an outcome with which both parties are satisfied. Mr. Melick is trained in helping parties resolve their issues by agreement. Upon reaching an agreement, he can prepare a document to effectuate its terms. Mr. Melick has considerable experience in business issues and business litigation having served as in-house counsel for a telecommunications carrier in charge of their nationwide commercial litigation. Thus, he has a unique understanding of business valuation issues as they arise in the context of divorce matters.
His dedication to children in divorce cases led him to cofound the Attorneys Representing Children (ARC) programs in the Middlesex, Worcester and Essex County Probate and Family Courts. The programs provide legal representation to children in high conflict custody cases and give children a voice in the process. He serves as a volunteer for the ARC programs in both the Middlesex and Norfolk counties and provides training to judges and attorneys involved in the ARC programs in Middlesex and Essex counties. Most recently he published an article in the Massachusetts Law Review entitled The Role of Child Counsel in the Attorneys Representing Children Programs in the Probate and Family Courts.
A prolific writer, he has published many other law review articles and chapters in various law books.
Mr. Melick has been an active lecturer for MCLE and other bar organizations, teaching trial advocacy, mediation and other legal subjects to practicing attorneys. He served as a member of the faculty at the 2011 MCLE Annual Family Law Conference for the panel addressing Adult Children with Special Needs.
