Going through a divorce or separation is never easy, especially when it comes to co-parenting. Imagine an app that can streamline communication, reduce conflicts, and serve as a reliable record in court.
In this episode, Rebecca Perra, Florida Supreme Court Certified Mediator and Judicial and Legal Education Coordinator for OurFamilyWizard, delves into the ways this innovative tool can transform co-parenting for separated families.
You’ll discover:
- How an integrated co-parenting app can centralize communication and reduce court appearances.
- The role of AI in improving family communication and reducing negativity.
- How to ensure expense tracking and reimbursement are seamless and conflict-free.
- Why OurFamilyWizard’s calendar feature stands out over free alternatives.
- Tips on doing away with “he said, she said” in custody exchanges with GPS verified check-ins.
Mentioned in this episode:
Transcript
Rebecca Perra: OurFamilyWizard is truly an app for divorced and separated families to communicate. It’s meant to be used in lieu of texts and emails and calendars and FaceTime and voice calls and I believe it gives families the tools they need to co-parent successfully. I just tell people, it takes it from 10 places and puts it in one to make life easier all around.
Voiceover: You’re listening to the Texas Family Law Insiders podcast. Your source for the latest news and trends in family law in the state of Texas. Now here’s your host, Attorney Holly Draper.
Holly Draper: Today I’m excited to welcome Rebecca Perra to the Texas Family Law Insiders podcast. Rebecca is a bar-certified attorney in Pennsylvania and Connecticut, as well as a Florida Supreme Court certified mediator in the areas of family and dependency law.
She also serves as the judicial and legal education coordinator for OurFamilyWizard. In this role, she educates judges, lawyers, and other family law professionals on the online tools that are used to reduce conflict and increase accountability in high conflict co parenting situations. Thank you so much for joining us today.
Rebecca: Thanks, Holly. It’s so good to be here. I appreciate it.
Holly: So why don’t you start and just tell us a little bit about your background?
Rebecca: Yeah, of course. So I’ve been a practicing family law attorney. I did family law while living in Connecticut, been down in Florida about 12 years now, moved down to be around family. And since then, I’ve been pretty much mediating and working for OurFamilyWizard.
I am Florida Supreme Court certified in family and dependency. So that’s kind of been my world, and now it’s just my joy. It’s like a passion project. I’ve loved OFW, from practicing I love it as a mediator, and now it’s, you know, part of my role is educating on the app, which I absolutely love to do.
Holly: So tell us a little bit more about your role with OurFamilyWizard.
Rebecca: Yeah, of course. So I primarily do a lot of education regarding the app for judges, attorneys, mental health professionals, DV organizations, non profits, legal aids. Truly, just a lot of presenting, a lot of educating, a lot of answering questions. I always tell people, contact me anytime. There’s no question too big or too small. So anything OurFamilyWizard related, I work with professionals on.
Holly: So most of our listeners probably have heard of OurFamilyWizard before, but in case we have some new family lawyers or some people who haven’t heard of it for one reason or another, tell us just generally what it is and what it can do for our clients?
Rebecca: That’s a great question, Holly. I like calling it because I’m kind of a visual person, so I like visually, like thinking of things, and I think of it and describe it as a co parenting ecosystem. Basically it’s all things co parenting in one happy little app. I mean, but if you break it down, what OurFamilyWizard is truly an app for divorced and separated families to communicate.
It’s meant to be used in lieu of texts and emails and calendars and FaceTime and voice calls and I believe it gives families the tools they need to co-parent successfully. And as a side bonus, it is highly documented and court admissible. I just tell people, it takes it from 10 places and puts it in one to make life easier, all around.
Holly: Perfect. So let’s dive a little deeper into it and kind of go through the various pieces that I think family lawyers might be interested in learning about. So first, I know we regularly will hear of clients or other lawyers recommending some free option to try and avoid having to pay the fee. What do you think makes OurFamilyWizard better than any of the options people are gonna be able to find out there that are free?
Rebecca: Absolutely. Another great question. And I like to start out by saying, and I don’t know that everybody knows this, we have a really generous fee waiver program. It’s something I would love to spread the word more to family law professionals. It is available.
Free accounts are readily available to anyone represented by legal aid, represented reduced fee, working with a DV organization, survivors of domestic violence, anyone receiving public assistance of any sort, or anyone deemed indigent by the court or clerk.
I mean, I know that varies based on state, so really it’s a very widely available free option. With free apps, I always say like free isn’t free. I feel like there’s a cost for it hidden somewhere, whether it’s selling data.
Or different functionality issues I’ve run into with the free app is that they can actually block each other, which is called disabling chat, which I think kind of defeats the whole purpose of a co parenting app from the get go. So I strongly encourage people, if they do need a, you know, if they’re struggling financially, reach out to me or any of my colleagues, anytime, to set up free accounts.
Holly: So what if somebody thinks maybe my client, or if, you know, for end users listening, maybe I would qualify for a fee waiver. What is the process to see if somebody qualifies?
Rebecca: It’s funny, you say that. We actually just introduced, spoiler alert, we’re introducing something, and many family law professionals might get emails today just announcing we’ve streamlined our fee waiver process. In the past it’s a physical paper form, which is fine, if people have that, they can still send it to myself or [email protected].
But really now it’s just, it’s a sign up through a website. Like they would just log in, put in their information, and it can be approved within seconds. It’s super, super simple. Or again, they can email contacts like myself or my colleagues in different states and just say, you know, have a client representing pro bono, need free accounts. It’s so simple.
Holly: So how does OurFamilyWizard help reduce conflict for co parents?
Rebecca: I think by bettering, I mean we’re a mission driven company. The mission being to help families living separate, thrive. And I think better communication ultimately can produce better results for these families. I mean, I mediate, you know, pretty regularly, besides working for our family wizard and in mediations, I can sense when they’re about to break down. I think when communication gets off the rails, somebody doesn’t feel heard or seen, and just these little slip ups in communication.
What OFW can do is keep those communicate, prevent the communication breakdowns from happening, and just kind of keep the families on track. But worst case scenario, they’re going to court. They’re going to have airtight records and easily, you know, printed, you know, reports and whatever, for court purposes.
Holly: So one of the features of OurFamilyWizard is that family law professionals can have access. And I know my initial reaction to a client thinking that I should have access to their OurFamilyWizard is the last thing I want to do is be micromanaging your communication. Why is it important for family law professionals to have access?
Rebecca: Okay, so, Holly, your reaction is basically everyone’s reaction. Like, no, I don’t know. Like, don’t do that to me, but I assure you, one the client never knows if you’re on once, twice or 20 times. The access can be as little or as much as you want. Two in professional accounts that are always free.
All professional accounts are free, be it lawyer, mental health provider, there’s always an out of office reply that they can set saying, like, hey, I don’t monitor this regularly. So I always encourage them to do that. And the third thing is, too, I’ve practiced family law.
I never knew, like I you know, my clients coming to me, I never knew if my client was the one giving the accurate story. Perhaps not. So I always say it’s a really great way to trust but verify what your client is saying to you, rather than everyone’s worst nightmare going into court and surprise, nobody wants that.
Holly: Is it better, in your opinion, for let’s say we want to use something from OurFamilyWizard in court. Is it better for us to get that access and go in the system and get it ourselves, or tell our clients, hey, we need you to send us X.
Rebecca: I think that’s truly up to the professional. I think some, I think it probably depends on the client, right? Like, you have a client that maybe they’re just a super busy working professional, maybe they’re a bit like, not up on the court stuff, maybe a little head in the sand thing going on. So in those kinds of situations, I think it’s easiest for the professional to print it out on their end.
But, I mean, of course, if you have a client who’s on the ball, on your doorstep, like, ready to roll, I mean, that’s the nice thing. Is, with the free professional access, it’s up to you. You make the decisions. And if it is a Sunday night, you’re not reliant on your client to, like, give that over to you when they may or may not do that. So it’s in more of the professional’s control.
Holly: Why is messaging through OurFamilyWizard better for our clients than texting or emailing?
Rebecca: Well, I think the biggest thing is, these days, it’s so easy to manipulate messages. Kind of recreate history as it benefits your own side of the story. Like I, you know my teen, I have teenagers, so I’ll send them, unsend like, oh no, I didn’t mean that. So I think these days it’s just so easy to manipulate records.
With OFW, and I like showing this to people when a message is sent, it’s sent. You cannot edit it. You cannot delete it. It lives on forever, and they don’t have to stay on OurFamilyWizard, forever. And I should say this, that even if they go inactive and then come back post judgment, their account lives there. And that’s a big benefit over the free account, the free programs, as well.
In some of the free apps, their accounts can be deleted at any time. With OurFamilyWizard, the records live on forever. I just think with how easy it is to manipulate records these days, it just keeps it secure. And also, we have a really cool feature called tone meter, so I encourage all professionals to check it out and see what it can do to help their clients communicate better.
Holly: So I think the tone meter is really interesting. Probably every family lawyer out there who has ever looked at a text message thread or emails in a contested case understands the benefit that these people may have had if they had had a tone meter. Talk a little bit more about what it does and how it works.
Rebecca: Of course, yeah, the tone meter is unique to OurFamilyWizard. I think it’s referred to a lot as almost an emotional spell check. What the tone meter is going to do in real time, if I write like if I’m a parent and I’m writing a not so nice message, like calling somebody a bad name or saying something negative, it’s going to like, it’s going to flag that, and it’s going to say negative.
And then what the parent has the option of doing is reframing it and just, you know, and then it won’t be flagged. They can send it. So if you’re seeing nasty messages, know that tone meter isn’t broken, but we don’t censor people either. I just think, in life, some people are better communicators than others.
And again, as I mentioned, I have teenagers if I write in all cap, you know, it’s sometimes tone is everything, and something might not be deemed I don’t think I’m being aggressive, but you know, my teenage daughter, Mom, you’re in a bad mood, like, no I’m not. I didn’t mean anything. So I think just having the little training wheels on and it just helps people communicate better. They don’t have to follow it. But it does, it can really help.
Holly: Does it offer a suggested change? Or it just says, hey, you may wanna rethink this.
Rebecca: You know, that’s a great question, and honestly, that’s kind of a two part answer. Not currently, but over the coming months, you and your clients will see something called tone meter AI, and it’s so cool. It will offer a suggested change. I know, you know, parenting coordinators I’ve met with. They’re like, raving about it, because they’re like, oh my gosh, this is going to help them.
So yeah, over the coming months, you will be seeing that, and it’s an option. They don’t have to use it. But as it stands now, it will just say this is negative. But where it’s going in the future, it’s going to give them suggested language they can follow it, not follow it, and regenerate a new suggestion. So it’s super cool. I use it on my tester parent accounts.
Holly: Does it identify anything more specific, or does it just say negative?
Rebecca: Right now, it just says negative. But again, moving forward, it’s going to give suggested language. But right now it currently says negative. It used to give different adjectives, but we wanted it just cut and dry, negative or not.
Holly: I know one of the other features that a lot of people like from OurFamilyWizard is the calendar feature. How is it different, or why is it better to use the calendar through our family wizard, than something like, you know, a shared Google Calendar or some other type of free online calendar platform?
Rebecca: Yeah, I think the biggest there’s several benefits I find to the OFW calendar. One we offer the common parenting template rotations, excuse me, so if they were to come out of mediation and they have a 2233, they can kind of plug it in, set it and forget it. There’s a couple other things. Our calendar can’t be edited.
So if they’re using a Google Cal, or something like that, they can almost rewrite history to again as it suits them, as they want it to appear. Once an event occurs in an OFW calendar, that’s it. You cannot, and the other thing is it prevents manipulation. So if I create an event, co-parent cannot edit my event and vice versa.
You know, we’ve really made some recent upgrades to it, even color coding it for ease of use. They can make small changes, little like trades and parenting time, trade swaps and parenting time through the calendar as well, which empowers them to make small changes on their own without repeatedly going back to court.
Holly: So if parents are using OurFamilyWizard, is the app on your phone gonna give you a notification every time there’s a new event? Or every time there’s a new message such that you can’t really make the argument that it’s not an instant way of communicating like a text message is.
Rebecca: No, absolutely. Again, great question, and it’s truly up to the parent’s preference. It’s up to the user. Because, again, you know, just thinking of maybe a teacher or a surgeon or someone who cannot be tied to their phone. Maybe they sent notifications to come at 4pm. Maybe I’m a co parent that just wants every item to come to me, and it’s really up to them, because everything with parenting and co parenting, it’s so personal, so they can kind of set it as it works best for their own needs.
Holly: So another feature that I think is really helpful for co parents is the expense reimbursement feature. Walk us through the steps of reimbursement on the platform.
Rebecca: For sure. Yeah. I mean, there’s one we even have something called OFW pay now so they can even pay each other. It’s going to function like a Venmo or Zelle kind of thing. They submit, you know, a receipt. They can attach receipts. They submit an expense to the co parent. The co parent reviews the receipt. Can either accept it, decline it, yeah, or they can accept it or decline it, and then they can pay them immediately.
And it’s going to keep the records are going to look like a table, like what’s been owed, what’s pending and what’s been refused. I love this feature, especially because most of the parenting plans I draft in mediation are very specific in timeframes for submitting these expenses. So if I’m working with pro se parents, they’ll say, well, what’s the big deal if I don’t send a copay within 45 days, it’s a $20 copay.
Okay, maybe not a big deal. But I always say to the parents, look, wait till you have a child with braces. If you should have a child with braces, that is an expense you don’t want to miss the window of time on, because then you’re talking like $1,500 so it’s a really good tool to not only exchange and pay, but to track and make sure they’re in alignment with the deadlines and time frames set forth in the parenting plan, or whatever plan they laid out.
Holly: Well and for our attorneys out there that are listening, I think this is something really important to make sure that your order is written in such a way to allow for expense reimbursement to happen this way and be enforceable this way.
I know a lot of the older orders I would see talk about sending things via certified mail or something like that, to properly submit your expenses. So I feel like we’re past that stage. So, you know, but just be sure that your orders are written to allow for this, because it’s gonna make everybody’s life a whole lot easier.
Rebecca: 100% and I have updated model order language I’m happy to share with you, to share with your listeners, and yeah, that includes all of these features I’m telling you about.
Voiceover: This episode of the Texas Family Law Insiders podcast is sponsored by The Draper Law Firm. Providing family law litigation in Collin, Denton, and Dallas counties and appeals across Texas. For more information, visit draperfirm.com or call, 469-715-6801.
Holly: So with the payment feature to pay through OurFamilyWizard, does that only allow you to pay with a bank account? Or can people use credit cards?
Rebecca: They can pay through their bank account.
Holly: Okay, so when I was looking through the materials that you’d sent me in advance to prepare there was a feature called the info bank. And I really had never heard of this. Don’t know what it is, so tell me about that.
Rebecca: I love the info bank. It’s a storage tool, essentially. But I think as you’re going from one, if you are going from one household to two, or perhaps you’ve never lived in the same house. But like I can speak from my personal experience, I’ve been married for 19 years. I don’t know why the school I’m in Manatee County, Florida, not one document has gone to my husband, not one.
Like so I think inherently, one parent tends to get all the school information all the you know, the kids are on my insurance. So obviously, as you go through a separation, that can be such a point of stress for the parent who doesn’t have it. You know, we like to say, with OurFamilyWizard, it’s equal. It doesn’t judge a parent. Everything is equal.
Whatever one parent has access to, they can share in the info bank, and then the other parent has access to. Insurance, cards, school records, I always encourage them to incorporate if they have out-of-state court orders, because, as anyone knows, those can be tricky to find depending on the state. So anything can go in the info bank. I love it. It’s a simple tool, but I think a powerful one.
Holly: And another feature is journal moments. What is that? And why would we want it?
Rebecca: So the journal, yeah, the journal is two parts. The moments, I like to call it almost a closed social media, because most attorneys do not wish for their clients to follow each other on the gram, kind of how it goes. So I think it can be a safe space to share photos. We do scrub the metadata so nothing can be tracked through these. It can be a great trust building tool like, okay, it’s not your night.
You’re not at basketball practice. Here’s a photo of basketball practice. It really can be a nice trust building tool sometimes, maybe one parent has concerns about the other parent doing homework with the child. Send a picture. Here’s, you know, little our child doing math homework at 7:30. Whatever it is, it’s a great space that’s not Facebook or Instagram or Snapchat.
Holly: So with the journal is that everything is shared between the parents? Or is there a private journal opportunity?
Rebecca: You know, that’s a great question. And we also have a check in feature within the journal as well, which I’m happy to tell you about too. They can create private entries. So if you know, if there was something they wanted to bring to the attention of their linked attorney.
This is where, yeah, having that link to that client is going to be helpful, because maybe, you know, talking, I don’t mean to transition already to the check in feature, but say there was a check in, and they don’t care necessarily, to prove to the other parent they were where they were supposed to be, but they want to show their attorney they were, is something they can create a private moment or check in for their attorney.
Holly: Well, I know a lot of times, you know, if we’re talking with somebody about a potential future modification and or, we’ll often advise them to keep a journal or write things down when they happen. So is that something they can be doing in OurFamilyWizard that’s going, is it easily private, or are you risking the other side is going to see this?
Rebecca: No it can be private, and it’s very easily private. Like everything on the app is really intuitive and very easy. It would just be a quick click that they’re creating a private moment for themselves, like soccer practice, no cleats again, just to kind of keep track of that. So, yeah, I do think journaling is important, and it can absolutely be a private tool. And they can keep it private. They can share it to their attorney, or they can share it with the co parent, so they have options there.
Holly: So then you already mentioned this, but there is the GPS check in feature. I didn’t know that this was a feature. I’m guessing it’s relatively new, but I love this, because for years, we would tell clients, you know, if the other side is not likely to show up, what do we do? You know, we’d say go to the nearest McDonald’s and get a coffee so you have a receipt showing that you were in the area at the time. But this eliminates that and shows very clearly that you were where you were supposed to be when you were supposed to be there.
Rebecca: Correct. Yeah. And that’s the beauty of it, yeah. No need for the McDonald’s receipts. We’ve all done that for sure. Because check in, you know, exchanges can be rocky at best, and so when I talk about the app, we don’t follow the parents. It doesn’t track them. It doesn’t follow them.
The check in feature, they’d have to give permission. It would be, you know, it would toggle it would be right on the app. It’s very intuitive. It would just give permission. And I should say, whatever’s in the moments feature that is not GPS verified. The check ins is the unique one feature that is GPS verified. They’d have to be within 500 feet of said location.
It, you know, it would toggle, you know, they’d get a little prompt like, do you want to check in? And it would then it defaults to off. So would they have to do that every time? Yes, but the reason is, we don’t follow them. And I’ve seen this save the day at so many mediations. Because truly, I think exchanges can be so rocky, whether somebody’s late or not there, or whatever the case is. It’s just, it’s, it’s a wonderful feature.
Holly: Well, it really eliminates the he said, she said, of you know, if she’s saying he’s always 30 minutes late, or he’s never on time, or whatever. Well, if you have this, you can show either he was or he wasn’t.
Rebecca: 100% yeah. And also, I mean, where I live, we have these massive parks, so maybe they’re both telling the truth, like, maybe there’s a world where they’re both telling the truth, but one parent was on the side of the park with the football stadium, and one parent was on the side with the swim thing. But if they create a check in for each other, it’s like, oh, they’re over there. Like, it just takes so much conflict out of the exchanges and shows proof if they do need to show their attorney or the court.
Holly: One of the other relatively new features, I think, is the ability to have audio and video calls through OurFamilyWizard. Why is this different or better than just using my iPhone?
Rebecca: Yeah, no, absolutely. Well, I think with a FaceTime call, I’d say, I mean, yeah, you can FaceTime, but there’s going to be no records. Or tracking down the records can be very challenging. Our call reports are very detailed. We have two versions of calls. We have unrecorded and recorded. Everything is permission based.
So for the unrecorded calls, you have to give permission for the audio and the visual, because we are always mindful of domestic violence. Somebody might be in a domestic violence shelter, sort of thing. So there’s that. The recorded calls, permission on the side placing it, permission on the side receiving it, and they’re going to get, like visual prompts.
I think the benefit truly is in the details you’re going to get from these reports. And they don’t even need to exchange phone numbers. Going back to the co-parenting ecosystem, it takes it from five places and puts it in one. The calls can be placed without exchanging phone numbers. They’re always through the app.
They can use cell or Wi Fi data, which I live in a part of Florida that just had way too many hurricanes. And there was a time where we were without cell data, and I got the coolest stories from parents saying like, hey, I went to the local library, got on Wi Fi, was able to call my co parent and just let them know I was safe.
So I think there’s a lot of benefits to that. And the details are going to be so much more voluminous than if they’re using a regular call through their phone. You’re going to know if they muted, did their cell service drop? Did they turn off the audio? So if they’re supposed to have a 10 minute video call, you’ll know if the camera was shut off for nine and a half.
Holly: Okay, so going back to the professional access and, you know, assuming we get over the hump and we agree we’re going to do this, what kind of reports can we as the professionals run?
Rebecca: The cool thing is, you can run everything that your client could run. So the call reports, the calendar, the trades, you know, the trade swap reports, the journal reports, the check in reports. Basically, if your client can do it, you can do it. You’ll get access to the call recordings if they have them. Again, it takes out that reliance on the client to provide these reports to you. It really does make life easier, I promise. And I just encourage set that auto reply, set the expectations, let them know I ain’t staring at the Wizard.
Holly: Watching all of your communication.
Rebecca: Oh no, no, no, no, no, exactly. But yeah, anything that the parent can run, the professional can essentially run.
Holly: You mentioned a while ago about admissibility and how people can get these admitted into court. Have you seen any problems in any states where there have been admissibility problems?
Rebecca: No, I have not. And that’s kind of an incredible thing to say, because I do my job primarily for OFW, although I cover throughout the country. I do primarily Florida, Georgia, Alabama. So that’s three distinctly different states. I’m licensed in Connecticut and Pennsylvania. I mean, I feel like I cover a lot of territory, and I can confidently say, no, I have not seen it, nor run into it.
Holly: Aside from attorneys, other professionals can have access to OurFamilyWizard through a professional account. How can having neutral professionals on these accounts help our clients using OurFamilyWizard?
Rebecca: Yeah, I honestly, I think that can be some of the most beneficial. So even say the attorneys don’t, aren’t on it. If you have a tied in mental health professional, a parenting coordinator, who’s helping them with the communication, a guardian ad litem. I just think it really helps, because they can view, because somebody, like a mental health professional or guardian ad litem, can be linked to both parties. They’re going to see everything.
They can pull all reports. And I think too, they can, like, for a parenting coordinator, like, if they’re seeing communication, they find like, maybe he’s going off the rails, they can kind of meet with them and reel it back in, if you will. I think it can be incredibly impactful and beneficial to have mental health professionals and other types of professionals on it.
Holly: So we talked a little bit about the waivers, but let’s talk about the costs for those that don’t qualify through a waiver. Are there different packages with different costs? What are we looking at?
Rebecca: Absolutely. So there are. The base base is like $110. You’re gonna have access to the functionality. And let me just, I kind of like explaining it all from like overview. The most expensive is going to be the recorded, transcribed version. That is going to be $299 a year. But there’s no hidden costs. That’s for unlimited recorded, transcribed calls.
And I’ve been asked, what is the longest call you can record? And the answer was four hours. I don’t know who is on the phone for four hours, but, I mean, I’m saying, like, truly unlimited. The unlimited voice video calling is essentially going to be our premium package, the $216.
Holly: When we’re talking about these dollar amounts, that’s per side, per year?
Rebecca: Per year, per side, the fee waiver encapsulates. So our most popular plan is The Essentials. The Essentials has 45 minutes of calls per month, per parent. So total 90 really. So that’s $150 a year. The fee waiver encapsulates The Essentials plan with The Premium level calling, if that makes sense. Because we wanted the fee waiver to really be comprehensive. So they don’t have calling limits if they’re on the fee waiver plan.
So that’s pretty much it in a nutshell, we do also offer a military discount, so that’s for current or former. And what that would be is, if I have a military parent, they can pick whatever package. So say they want recorded, transcribed. They pick that. One parent pays it, one parent gets it for free, and then it swaps year to year. So the packages will mirror each other with the military discount.
Holly: Okay, so the military discount applies to both parties.
Rebecca: Correct, it’s current, former, reserve. I’ve been asked that. So yeah.
Holly: You only need one parent.
Rebecca: Correct. Yeah, no, absolutely, absolutely. And then the other parent would get the package they I guess, they just would agree, like, hey, we want recorded, or whatever it is. And then the other parent would get that same. It matches, I guess.
Holly: Okay, so one last thing about OurFamilyWizard, and I know that you’ve brought this up a couple of times in the course of conversation, is the model order language. If our listeners want to find that, where can they do that?
Rebecca: Well, I gotta say ourfamilywizard.com has so much information. I mean, and if you Google model order, it will get them to there. I’m happy to, you know, provide my email. My information to anyone who would like to reach out. I can send it in Word format. It is available for download on our website, though.
Holly: And is there just one that is applicable in all the states, or are there different ones?
Rebecca: No, it’s going to be one. We worked really hard. We worked with judges, lawyers. So I always tell people, like, modify it as you see fit, because obviously, like different states are going to have different terminologies. So really, just cut and paste and use what you want. But I find it to be a tremendous resource. I’m a cutter pasteer. I’ve always been a cutter pasteer. So yeah, just use what you want. Don’t use what you want, but it’s always available for download on our website, ourfamilywizard.com.
Holly: Perfect. So we’re almost out of time. But one thing I like to ask everybody who comes on the podcast is, if you could give one piece of advice to young family lawyers, what would it be?
Rebecca: Be prepared. Trust, but verify. Particularly in the family law space, and that’s where I just love OurFamilyWizard so much. You know, verify what your clients are telling you. I never want to go into court blind and just be prepared. So, I mean, OurFamilyWizard, it takes out that surprise element.
So if I have a client coming to me and they’re saying, you know, this parent isn’t paying this or this parent didn’t message me, I can say, okay, I mean, clearly they’re under tremendous stress, the parents. So I’m not saying it would even be an intentional fib, or, you know, leave out information intentionally, but it’s a great tool, so you can trust but verify, I think, for new lawyers. And pace yourself and talk to mentors. Mentors are everything.
Holly: I agree 100%. Well, is there any place besides just ourfamilywizard.com that you want our listeners to know about, where they can go to find out more information?
Rebecca: Yeah, I think the website has a lot but they can email me. My email is R P E R R A so rperra @ourfamilywizard.com our [email protected] or the website is a fantastic resource.
Holly: Perfect. Well, thank you so much for joining us today. For our listeners, if you enjoyed this podcast, please take a second to leave us a review and subscribe to enjoy future episodes.
Voiceover: The Texas Family Law Insiders podcast is sponsored by The Draper Law Firm. We help people navigate divorce and child custody cases and handle family law appellate matters. For more information, visit our website at www.draperfirm.com.