Divorce Mediation in San Mateo | Expert Family Law Services
Divorce is stressful enough. Work with top divorce mediators Dina & Samira to take control of your case in San Mateo, Ca offering the most comprehensive divorce mediation services.
What is Divorce Mediation in San Mateo?
Mediation in divorce is a way to end a marriage among married couples without having to go to court. This alternate dispute resolution strategy empowers spouses to reach a fair yet consensual settlement without stepping into a courtroom and keeping their matter private. The mediator is a third party neutral who helps the parties divorce but provides the parties quality and creative solutions that put the family first. These mediators may be lawyers (attorney mediators) or professional non-attorney mediators.
Mediation in San Mateo, CA has become one of the most common types of marital separation because of its non-adversarial nature, cost-effectiveness and faster speed compared to lengthy court battles. Married couples and domestic partners have used mediation to obtain a divorce. In fact, most celebrity couples mediate their divorce or use private arbitration.
If you are considering divorce, and want to achieve the best outcome for you and your family, read this article to learn more about mediation
Look for These 5 Qualities in San Mateo Mediators to Ensure your 100% Success
You can only win at mediation with a good and professional mediator. Choosing an impartial, affordable, experienced, and compassionate mediator is important. Here are five important qualities to check for when interviewing a divorce mediator:
Impartiality
Find a mediator that keeps the playing field level for both spouses. Your mediator must make the mediation space safe for both parties. For you to be able to settle, you both need to feel heard, validated and understood. Neutrality is non-negotiable.
Empathy and Compassion
Divorce is an emotional process, and empathetic mediators can understand the emotions of both parties to handle complex and emotional situations. Look for a compassionate mediator who can better care for your emotions.
Affordability
Compared to litigation and traditional divorce options, mediation is affordable. However, look for a mediator that provides a structured and well-organized mediation process. Mediators often charge hourly. If the mediator is not organized, or also litigates, the mediator may not have his/her full attention on your matter. This will cost you more in the long run, even if that mediator’s hourly is less than another professional. Family law and divorce are not easy and family issues can be complicated. This in itself requires time, which results in costs. But still looking for a mediator that can give you a general idea of the costs to mediate and are transparent regarding their fees.
Experienced and Knowledgeable Mediator
Take time to find a mediator who is well-versed in the issues that you and your spouse believe are relevant to your case. A good divorce mediator must have strong experience and knowledge of California family law and divorce procedures. Only well-trained and knowledgeable attorney mediators know how different laws and legal frameworks apply to you, your circumstances, and your spouse. For example, at Families First Mediation, we specialize in complicated assets such as retirement plans and pensions, employee benefits like RSUs, PSUs, and stock options, real property (including deferring the sale of the family home,) creative rights and ownership, and patents and copyrights.
Troubleshooting Skills
The best mediators use problem-solving skills to foster productive communication between the parties to reach creative solutions that benefit both. A mediator with problem-solving skills moves the mediation forward and is more likely to end in a final settlement. Our ‘Families First Mediation’ Mediators, with their extraordinary problem-solving skills, have helped thousands of couples settle in just 4–6 sessions. Our Marital Settlement Agreements are detailed – which benefits the parties and limits the amount of future modifications and enforcement issues. We find the details create more long-lasting settlements.
Meet Your Future Mediation Team
Dina Haddad, Esq.
Principal & Founder Attorney-Mediator
Dina is the founder and principal of Families First Mediation. Her mission is make A-class services available to clients at all socio-economic levels by providing her commitment to excellence at a fraction of the cost of traditional divorce options.
She has practiced family law in both Southern and Northern California, at some of the most prestigious law firms. She completed post-doctorate law degree in mediation, a Masters in Law in Alternate Dispute Resolution from the premier Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution. For more than 9 consecutive years, Straus was ranked the number one dispute resolution program by U.S. News and World Report. Straus received this honor again for 2018. Very few mediators, particularly in family law, have this unique training.
Samira Amato, Esq.
Deborah Yamashiro
Elizabeth Stephens
Katherine Pearson
Families First Mediation Process
1
Start A Divorce
We will prepare and file the Petition and Response for the divorce or legal separation for you. These papers start your divorce case.
2
Mediate An Agreement
You will meet with the attorney-mediator and your spouse in working sessions. On average, parties need 6 sessions. The attorney-mediator will help you understand the law and provide you options for property division, parenting and child and spousal support. Using that information, the attorney-mediator will guide you to an agreement. We are looking for results that you understand and work for you, each other, and your family - both today and for your future.
3
Complete Disclosures
For every divorce and legal separation, you must exchange and complete financial disclosures. We will guide you through them so they are exchanged and done correctly
4
Divorce Judgment
We will put your agreements together in a final agreement, known as an MSA. We submit this to court to become your divorce judgment.
Expected Cost of Mediation in San Mateo
Mediators in your city may combine both fee models, i.e., a flat fee and an hourly basis. They may charge an initial flat fee for consultation and other processes while an hourly fee for your subsequent mediation sessions. Whether a mediator adopts a hybrid model could also depend upon legal nuances, preferences, and risk factors.
The divorce mediation cost in San Mateo, California, may depend upon case complexities (child custody, assets, liabilities, etc.), divorcing issues, mediator’s qualification and experience, and expert fees. Mediation expenses may range from flat fees to $15,000.00, plus. .
In California, each party will also have a filing fee. As of the writing of this article, the fee is $435.00, but it can include county fees and online filing fees that are added to it. Each party will be responsible to pay this. You can see these fees here. Mediation is far cheaper than traditional litigation. Likely if your mediation costs more, your litigation case would have cost more too.
Divorce mediators use different pricing models or structures for their mediation services. The pricing models (with the approximated mediation costs):
Hourly rates: Many mediators use an hourly rate fee structure for their mediation services. Mediators in San Mateo can charge around $200 to $650 per hour. These rates may also depend upon the mediator’s experience.
Flat Fee Packages: Mediators may charge the entire fee based on the estimated number of sessions for the mediation process (from start to finish). The average cost for a flat fee package may range from $3,500 to $ 15,000+. This may include all sessions and fees for document preparation and filing services.
- Low-cost Mediation: $3,500 – $5,000
- Standard Mediation: $5,000 – $15,000
- Complex Mediation: Starts from above $15,000
Hybrid Fee Model: Mediators in your city may combine both fee models, i.e., a flat fee and an hourly basis. They may charge an initial flat fee for consultation and other processes while an hourly fee for your subsequent mediation sessions. Whether a mediator adopts a hybrid model could also depend upon legal nuances, preferences, and risk factors.
Expected Cost of Mediation in San Mateo
Our Families First Mediation Mediators in Los Angeles, CA, have helped thousands of couples agree on the specific terms of their divorces. “Families First Mediation ” Mediators have saved spouses from costly litigation with customized strategies suited to their family’s needs.
Following are the Services of Families First Mediation Mediators:
See What Our Clients Say About Us
Learn more about Divorce Mediation and how it can help your family
F.A.Q
Virtual Sessions
Our mediation sessions are virtual. Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, we offered virtual sessions and relied heavily on technology to offer the best services to our clients and keep their costs down. We rely on secure methods to share documents, online calendaring, electronic payment options and other useful integrations. Unlike other divorce practices, you won’t find charges on your invoice for us to file or print your documents to paper.
In co-mediation, two mediators work together to resolve disputes among parties. With co-mediation, parties get the expertise of two mediators, and these mediators share their knowledge, experience, and skills to reach the outcome. However, it can add some extra costs due to the involvement of two mediators for both parties. It also requires mediators who work exceptionally well with one another; otherwise, it’s likely the parties will be confused.
You can find a reputable divorce mediator in California by doing these steps:
- • Search on Google or browse through online legal directories
- • Reach out to family attorneys in Los Angeles and ask for referrals.
- • Read and review the testimonials of mediators once you find them.
The mediator can understand your case (suitability of mediation to you) and divorce issues in a free video consultation. Additionally, they can communicate their strategies to resolve your disputes, their role as a neutral facilitator, and the risks associated with your divorce. You can also learn about their fee model in an initial discussion. In short, you can use the free video consultation for maximum benefit without spending money.
- • Gather a basic understanding of the mediation process
- • Familiarize yourself with your mediation concern to a mediator and know about different solutions.
- • Evaluate the mediator regarding his communication, problem-solving skills, and suitability to your scenario.
- • Use this strategy and get at the win-and-win situation before investing in mediation
The number of sessions required in your mediation for simple divorce or complex cases can vary. The more complications there are, the more sessions will be required. Likewise, the couple’s willingness to compromise, complexity, information gathering (process), expert consultations, and mediator experience may also influence the number of sessions. Our Families First Mediations couples average 5–6 sessions. Here is a breakdown of the expected number of sessions based on the case types.
- • Simple cases: 3–5 sessions
- • Mid-size cases: 4–8 sessions
- • Highly complex Cases: 8–12+
The following are the pros and cons of mediation in divorce.
Pros
- • Confidential
- • Time effective
- • Post-divorce stability
- • Voluntary, informal and flexible
- • More control over the outcome
- • Collaborative and peaceful nature
- • Inexpensive process(both parties can collectively pay the fees of a mediator)
Cons
- • Can’t work for high conflict cases
- • Does not work for uncooperative couples
- • Lacks legal advocacy (mediator just mediates and doesn’t advocate for parties, unless the parties retain consulting attorneys)
- • Doesn’t work for couples with power imbalance (unless the mediator is able to neutralize)
No, mediation and collaborative divorce are entirely different approaches to divorcing. Both are processes to divorce in California, without stepping into court, yet these options differ in the process, (number of) professionals involved, and costs.
- • In mediation, both parties have one mediator, while in a collaborative divorce, each party retains his/her attorney.
- • In mediation, you work directly with the mediator. In collaborative practice, you work in a team approach. The number of professionals in the team varies, but can include a mental health professional and financial expert.
- • Mediation is generally cheaper than collaborative divorce because collaborative typically requires a team which is more costly based on the number of professionals. Additionally, teams tend to move slower (costing more) than a more streamlined service like mediation.
- • A mediator in mediation stays neutral. The mediator neither advocates in the court nor for the parties. They just mediate for both divorcing parties. In collaborative divorce, each party’s attorney advocates for its party.
