Providing Divorce Mediation Services Throughout California
Divorce is stressful enough. Work with top divorce mediators Dina & Samira to take control of your case in Los Altos offering the most comprehensive divorce mediation services.
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Los Altos Divorce Mediation Services, Family Law, Legal Separation, or Custody Mediation
Divorce mediation is a great way to stay in control of your divorce in Los Altos and throughout California. Unlike a traditional divorce which takes an average 2 years and can cost from $20,000.00 to $100,000.00+, mediation puts the couple in control of the process. As a result, the couple ends up with a high-quality agreement for a fraction of the cost and time. The mediator empowers the couple with family law options to maximize the community benefits, identify separate claims, and finalize the couple’s divorce. By providing these resources to the couple together, the couple rebuilds trust and teamwork to finish their divorce.
Your mediator can be a lawyer (attorney-mediator) or another certified third-party person (non-attorney mediator). At Families First Mediation, our mediators are family law attorneys with at least 20 years of family law experience. Our mediators pride themselves in creative agreements, which focus on important details like tax consequences and maximizing the benefits available to the parties compared to a traditional divorce process.
The following are the important roles our mediators take on for the mediation to be successful:
Neutral Mediators play the crucial role of facilitating sound communication between spouses based on their divorcing goals. “FamiliesFirstMediation” Mediators use communication skills and help couples discuss different options to resolve their dispute on critical divorce matters
Our Los Altos-based Attorney mediators can guide couples about the legal implications of the decisions made under the mediation process by legal frameworks and family law. They may also offer legal advice and draft legal documents.
Getting served with divorce papers is stressful. Imagine having to live your day to day life with court hearings, court papers, deadlines, depositions, discovery, and attorney conferences. It is incredibly stressful. Compare this to mediation. In mediation, you still have to work through your divorce (which is difficult) but the process works around your schedule and needs. You are working towards agreements, which increases the cooperative tone and de-escalates conflict.
To resolve your dispute, Our qualified Families First Mediation Mediators may involve other professionals depending upon the complexities involved in the case. They might seek help from financial experts to resolve financial conflicts. The Mediators are well-trained to understand your emotions. Therefore, for severe circumstances and specific issues, they may talk to a mental health clinician, mental therapist, or child psychologist to ease the divorce process.
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. Dina sits as a Judge Pro Tempore for the Personal Property Arbitration in Santa Clara County and is a family law mediator for the Agency for Dispute Resolution (ADR), a premier provider of private dispute resolution services with a selective panel of neutrals.
Divorce mediation comes with several benefits:
‘Online Mediators’ help spouses navigate their divorce negotiations, facilitate collaborative communication, and clarify issues like property division and child custody, besides being fair and empathetic. Our Families First Mediation mediators in Los Altos, CA have all helped thousands of couples agree on the specific terms of their divorces with the above-said qualities. Families First Mediation mediators have saved spouses from spending $100,000.00 in costly litigation with customized strategies catered to the family’s needs
Divorce Mediation is proven as the most effective approach for divorce. You stay in control of your divorce case and you make the decisions for you and your family, not a judge or lawyer. You also save money, paying for one impartial professional rather than multiple professionals with differing goals. Also, mediation takes far less time than any of the other available options.
We believe anyone can successfully mediate their divorce or legal separation. In fact, statistics show children do much better when parents mediate. We provide a customized process that allows couples to move quickly and successfully through their divorce process. We provide the legal knowledge you need to make the right decisions for you and your family. We take the complexity of divorce and make it simple.
We will prepare and file the Petition and Response for the divorce or legal separation for you. These papers start your divorce case.
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.
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
We will put your agreements together in a final agreement, known as an MSA. We submit this to court to become your divorce judgment.
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.
A skilled mediator helps spouses with family law issues like:
Parenting issues
• Parental relocation;
• Visitation schedules;
• Legal custody of a child;
• Physical custody of a child;
• (Future) Communication channels between parents and children;
• On-going parenting;
• Move-aways;
• Holiday Schedules; and
• Summer Schedules.
Property and Assets Division Issues
• Real property, including the family residence;
• Bank accounts, like checking, savings, and CDs;
• Employee benefit accounts, like RSUs, PSUs, and Stock Options;
• Retirement accounts, like 401(k), 403bs, CalSTRS, CalPERS, and other pensions;
• Brokerage accounts;
• Cryptocurrency;
• Business interests, including family-owned businesses; and
• Debts, including college loans, tax obligations, and credit card debts.
Support and Other Expenses
• Spousal support or alimony;
• Child support and child care expenses;
• Health and Life insurance;
• Family support;
• Medical expenses; and
• Educational costs.
Divorce
• Timings and grounds of divorce;
• Post-divorce stability factors; and
• Cooperation among spouses
Choosing the expert mediator for your successful mediation is highly essential. Following are the top questions you should ask your mediator respectfully.
Both are alternative dispute resolution methods but arbitration is more similar to
private judging.
Finding a reputable divorce mediator in Los Altos requires some research. Once you
learn about professional mediation experts in your city, create a short list detailing their
qualifications and training. If mediators offer a free video consultation for discussion, this will
give you an opportunity to meet with the mediator virtually to see if that mediator is a good fit
for you.
To find a qualified mediator in Los Altos, California:
Families First Mediation is a pioneer in the field of divorce mediation. Our entire divorce mediation team takes great pride in being active trainers, divorce mediators and teachers of mediation in the greater California area. If you are considering a collaborative divorce, legal seperation or looking for a san jose divorce lawyer we have services that may be beneficial to you. Take advantage of our vast expertise and background in the field of divorce mediation and our genuine desire to help with your divorce mediation services.