A 62-year-old former advertising executive was sentenced in Hartford Superior Court to 70 years in prison for kidnapping his ex-wife at gunpoint and holding her hostage for 13 hours on the day he was supposed to turn over the couple’s South Windsor home to her or face contempt of court.
Richard Shenkman, formerly of the advertising firm Primedia and brother of Mark Shenkman, founder and president of Shenkman Capital Management, declared before the sentencing hearing that he had hired an “assassin” to kill his ex-wife, Nancy Tyler.
The judge had rejected a motion by Shenkman’s attorney to delay sentencing for further psychological evaluation of his client. Shenkman attorney said that his client’s “assassin” remarks showed that his client was mentally ill and “demonstrated he was off the reservation big time.”
While few divorces in Connecticut are as violent as in the Shenkman-Tyler case, even a “normal” divorce can inflict plenty of pain, stress, and drama on the family.
Divorce mediation offers an alternative.
Divorce mediation is a non-adversarial method for dealing with issues of property division, child and spousal support, and child custody. During the divorce mediation process, the spouses work to resolve their own disputes with the help of an experienced mediator.
Divorce mediation saves time and money and often results in solutions that are more creative, and better for the family, than any orders a court would impose. Agreements arrived at via mediation are also more likely to be honored by the parties long term. In addition, going through the mediation process can teach a divorcing couple how to resolve their own problems, without resorting to courts or lawyers.
Although divorce mediation is not therapy, it can even be effective in diffusing the anger that prevents divorcing couples from communicating effectively and help them focus on the future rather than the past.
Mediation can start even before divorce papers have been filed, and it can be used even after a divorce is final to help a couple deal with ongoing disputes.
If you’re interested in learning more about divorce mediation, contact Connecticut divorce lawyer Lisa Cappalli, Esq.