Divorce without Children

Same for Legal Separation without Children

Divorce via Mediation without Children

Divorce Mediation when there are no minor children from the marriage, while less complicated overall, places more focus on the financial aspects. It’s important that Both Parties have reasonable and equitable resources to separate successfully.

The Mediator will lay out the path to achieve all of these important concerns and all while maintaining efficiency with time and money.

The rough process is as follows:

Financial Disclosures and Research
Financials Mediation
Document Preparation
Court Filing
Court Acceptance of Agreement
Final Court Order/Decree

The Mediator will guide the parties through each step in detail, supporting them fully, and keep the parties on track overall.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can't we do our own documentation?

Yes and No. It’s not a good idea to have a party to the negotiation, or their Attorney, draft the final agreements due to conflict of interest, possible misinterpretation, and in the case of Parties doing their own documents, costly mistakes in how the terms are documented.

If both Parties agree, they may of course have a third party prepare the documents, but great care should be taken to ensure the completeness and accuracy of the negotiated terms are properly recorded and satisfactory to Both Parties.

For these reasons there are benefits to having the Mediator reduce the agreements to writing. The Spirit of the Agreement is known by the Mediator since I was involved in the discussions and negotiation process. This is an incredibly valuable perspective that ensures accuracy, completeness and appropriate language in the agreement that simply can’t be replicated by anyone else.

Can you handle complex and high income situations?

Yes! I have had many high income high worth cases, even a few billionaires, and we have addressed the confusion that can come from complex real estate development, bonds, investments, start-ups, prenuptial agreements and trust situations.

When there are specific questions or challenges for tax planning for example, we work well with Tax Attorneys and Financial Advisors to make sure they understand the contemplated negotiation and the resulting advice is correctly represented in the Court Papers, or MOU.

How will my variable self-employment income be fairly treated?

Many clients are concerned with how Spousal Maintenance will be accurately determined when their income is dynamic. Don’t worry, I don’t just take the current year’s income as the determining factor. Together we look at all the factors that affect incomes and adjust appropriately so a true representation is produced. We look at the average of the last three relevant years as a starting place. We can then incorporate trending of income up or down over the years, anomalies like COVID, market disrupters, Client Health, and many other factors to see the whole picture. By working together we ultimately produce an income number that better reflects “reality” which benefits both parties in the long run.

How will my lack of financial knowledge negatively impact me?

It’s a very valid concern as it can surely place the person who isn’t financially savvy at a disadvantage in a negotiation. It’s my job to make sure that power or knowledge imbalances don’t inappropriately affect either party.

Some of the things I can do to help include making sure things are written down and easy to read and process, taking our time and not rush through discussions, explain terms and concepts clearly, prevent the other party from manipulating the situation by pointing out inconsistencies, misleading explanations or suggestions, and proposals that seem to covertly favor that party.

I also support pausing the mediation so one can consult with a professional third party to better learn and evaluate topics and potential settlement options. We only have one chance to produce fair outcomes so I work to make sure that settlements are fair to both parties and both parties understand fully the potential options.

With such care and sensitivity the potential risks are greatly reduced and nearly all of my clients by the end not only fully understand what they need to, but are confident in their agreement without support from external third parties, however their input is welcome if desired.

Service Snapshot

Typical Fees

$600/each

More About Mediation Fees

Typical Duration

4 months (includes 3 months court time)

More About Length of Mediation

Typical Mediation Hours

3 to 4 hours

More About Mediation Hours

Topics Covered

Financial Disclosures
Non-Marital Property
Allocation of Assets/Debts
Monthly Budget Modeling
Spousal Maintenance/Alimony
Taxes/Withholding
Court Process
Court Papers