NEW HORIZONS FAMILY LAW

FIND YOUR NEW HORIZON

Transitions can be challenging, particularly for families that don’t fit neatly into a box. New Horizons provides services tailored to your family’s individual needs, specializing in working with LGBTQ+, non-monogamous, neurodivergent, and other alternative families and allies. Whether you’re creating your family, dissolving a relationship, or somewhere in between, New Horizons can help you navigate the legal landscape in a way that puts you in charge of the decisions that will shape your family’s future.

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Mediation

Mediation offers parties the ability to craft the agreements that work for their unique life situations and families, taking into account their goals and needs.

Collaborative Divorce

Collaborative Divorce is a non-adversarial, team-based approach to divorce, where a team of professionals assists the divorcing parties to create a mutually beneficial, mutually agreed upon outcome.

Legal Consulting

Sometimes, you just need to hire an attorney for a few hours to review a document or provide guidance on your options.

Co-Parenting and Divorce Coaching

Going through a divorce or relationship transition, especially when children are involved, can be one of the most difficult paths we have to navigate. You don’t need to do it alone.

GET TO KNOW NEW HORIZONS

MEET BEKKI

Licensed Attorney, Certified Mediator

Bekki Callaway (they/them) is an attorney and mediator in the San Francisco Bay Area. Their legal practice is focused on creating collaborative solutions for family transitions that take into account the unique needs of each family while treating all individuals with respect, compassion, and kindness. Bekki works with LGBTQ+, non-monogamous, and other non-traditional families and allies. They are passionate about creating community and chosen family. Bekki co-founded the Poly Alt Parenting group, which holds regular potlucks and discussions for non-monogamous families and allies, and also runs a meditation and support group for sex positive womxn.

 

Bekki graduated from Berkeley Law in 2010. Prior to starting New Horizons, Bekki worked as a Branch Chief in the Refugee, Asylum, and International Operations Directorate of U.S. Customs and Immigration Services. Bekki also practiced civil litigation and white collar criminal defense at Freshfields in New York. Bekki is a member of Collaborative Practice East Bay, Bay Area Lawyers for Individual Freedom, and the LGBTQ Bar, as well as the Alameda and Contra Costa bar associations. 

Bekki publishes articles about non-traditional families, alternative parenting styles, and the intersection of non-traditional families and the law at the New Horizons Newsletter.

AREAS OF FOCUS

SERVICES

MEDIATION

Mediation offers parties the ability to craft the agreements that work for their unique life situations and families, taking into account their goals and needs. When families mediate, they avoid the escalation that can come with the adversarial posture in litigation, as well as ensure that they are in control of the outcome, rather than a judge. 

My mediation practice focuses on hearing your individual story and helping you identify and create durable, lasting solutions that address your needs. I offer mediation services to:

  • Couples, families, or groups who are divorcing, dissolving, or de-escalating their relationship or dividing assets;
  • Co-parents or families who need help to create, adjust or implement a parenting plan or agreement;
  • Friends, couples, families, or groups creating a cohabitating or cohousing agreement; and
  • Couples and polycules creating relationship agreements, prenuptial agreements, or post-nuptial agreements.

COLLABORATIVE DIVORCE

Collaborative Divorce is a non-adversarial, team-based approach to divorce, where a team of professionals assists the divorcing parties to create a mutually beneficial, mutually agreed upon outcome. The collaborative team consists of a divorce attorney for each party, as well as coaches, child specialists, and financial neutrals. You and your spouse will work with your attorneys to build the team that best suits your case. In a collaborative case, you, your spouse, and your professional team pledge to work cooperatively, with full transparency. 

The collaborative process offers the support and guidance of having your own attorney, without needing to go to court. As your collaborative attorney, I will guide you through the divorce process and help you negotiate an agreement on property division, support, and a parenting plan. 

For more information about the collaborative divorce process, visit http://www.collaborativepracticeeastbay.com/.

LEGAL CONSULTING

Sometimes, you just need to hire an attorney for a few hours to review a document or provide guidance on your options. As your consulting attorney, I will  work with you to determine the type of support you need and whether consulting services are a good fit for your situation. 

Examples of consulting services I offer include:

  • Review of a Marital Settlement Agreement, Prenuptial Agreement, or other agreement produced in mediation, where you are working with a neutral third party to create the agreement;
  • Creation of a legally binding document to memorialize an agreement that you have already reached;
  • Assistance reviewing the various options available to you in considering a relationship dissolution;
  • Discussion of the process for divorcing or otherwise ending a relationship where there are children, joint assets, or other commitments; and
  • Assistance with preparing disclosures or court forms.

CO-PARENTING & DIVORCE COACHING

Going through a divorce or relationship transition, especially when children are involved, can be one of the most difficult paths we have to navigate. You don’t need to do it alone. As an experienced attorney, and as someone who has been through a divorce myself, I can provide you with support:

 

  • Writing or responding to emails and other communications from your co-parent(s);
  • Navigating different parenting styles and choices, particularly with respect to legal agreements or court hearings;
  • Preparing for mediation sessions or court hearings; or 
  • Filling out and filing paperwork.

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