Karen Stewart, 47, set out to do just that after she suffered through a tumultuous divorce that permanently ended her friendship with her ex. “Our kids are thriving, but [the loss of the friendship] is sad,” says Stewart. “With the affidavits, the court fillings – he was never able to move through that, and that’s okay. But it’s unnecessary to have that outcome. Kids want their parents to be friendly even if they’re divorced.”
Stewart clearly isn’t the only one who wishes there was a way to get a divorce without making the person who used to be your best friend hate you forever. Her company, Fairway Divorce Solutions, opened its doors in 2008 and two years later there are ten branches open with seventeen more scheduled to open later this year. Fairway aims to help both sides of a divorce settle amicably by working for the couple as a whole, not just one part of the couple. They focus on the two most volatile issues of divorce, money and kids, not as negotiating lawyers, but as a fair and disinterested third party who’s there to find the best solution for everyone.
Stewart says “one of the flaws of the system is that you have two lawyers, so they’re always bargaining, then children become part of the bargaining chip. In my opinion, divorce isn’t appropriate for that model of giving up the assets to the lawyers. It’s appropriate for business, not family.”
As far as Stewart is concerned, ending a marriage shouldn’t be a competition and it shouldn’t be allowed to spiral into out of control drama. Of course, not everyone out there offering to negotiate your marital disputes feels that way. Jerry Seinfeld, producer of the upcoming reality show “The Marriage Ref,” thinks your drama makes for great TV. He, and a panel of celebrity judges including Kelly Ripa and Alec Baldwin, will listen to marital disputes and declare a winner. Of course, Seinfeld and company are hoping most of their contestants won’t end up needing Fairway’s services – the idea is to let couples in “classic marital disputes” work things out with a sense of humor. But Seinfeld warns, “this is not a therapy show, it’s a comedy show. After nine years of marriage, I have discover that the comedic potential of this subject is quite rich.”
If you think that asking Alec Baldwin to weigh in on whose responsibility it should be to clean your gutters is a good idea, you can sign up for the open casting call here. If you just want to watch the action from a safe distance, tune in on NBC, Thursdays at 10/9 central starting February 28th.
Comments
No comments.