Keep Control of Your Divorce

What does mediation offer families and divorcing couples?

• Gives You More Control over the Divorce Settlement
• Less Expensive than Traditional Divorce or Collaborative Divorce
• Reduces Children’s Stress & Anxiety During the Transition of Divorce
• Better Parenting Arrangements
• Preserves Your Assets
• Longer Lasting Divorce Settlements
• Less likely to Return to Court for Expensive Follow-up Litigation
• Allows the Parties to make Settlements that are Often Not Available to the Court
• Provides Parents the Opportunity to do the Best for their Children
• Allows Parenting Plans to be developed by the parents with professional guidance in a calm atmosphere, not in the courthouse hallway with a clerk or court staffer using a cookie cutter approach.
  

There is an alternative - Mediation.  Mediation allows the parties - not third parties or an impersonal system - to control the outcome of your divorce.  Mediation is less expensive and allows you to be hands-on for your divorce.  Divorce litigation usually takes a year.  Mediation allows you to conclude the divorce at your own rate - often in ten to fifteen weeks.

Then there are the children. Parents often worry about the effects of divorce on the children. Psychologists and social scientists are clear on what negatively effects children - parental conflict that is not well-managed.  In mediation, stress on you and your children are reduced.  Litigated divorces allow the conflict to intensify.  This is not good for the children, or for the adults. 

An additional benefit: mediated divorces are less likely to return to court for expensive post-divorce litigation.  Also you are able to create resolutions suitable to your situation.  These resolutions are often not available to a judge to order in a trial.

Divorce Mediation usually includes the issues of custody, visitation, alimony or spousal support, child support, distribution of the marital assets and the marital debts.  Other matters can be included.  Similarly, you can decide to mediate some aspects (parenting plan, custody, visitation as an example) and not others.