Providing Divorce Mediation Services Throughout California
Providing Divorce Mediation Services Throughout California
Legal separation is the first part of a divorce, when parties are physically separated from one another. This is a big confusion in California.
Actually, legal separation is not a precursor to a divorce and not required to divorce. Legal separation is a full civil case that is similar to a divorce, setting forth the terms for child custody, support, and division of property approved by the family court.
Legal separation is different from divorce because the spouses will remain legally married to one another. If you are unsure whether to legally separate or divorce, you can have a thoughtful conversation with our legal separation and divorce experts. Book your FREE consultation today.
The first thing you need to do is to decide whether to legally separate or divorce. This could involve assessing your options like meeting California’s residency requirements, status of the marital relationship, weighing of benefits for marriage like health insurance, and faith-based, religions, and personal beliefs and values.
However, whichever you choose between divorce and legal separation, your success in mediation also depends upon your mediator and the process you choose to finalize your mediator. Some cool benefits of mediating your legal separation includes:
Litigation often leads to expensive attorney fees (upwards of $50,000) that can quickly consume shared assets. Read more about divorce mediation costs.
Mediation is collaborative, reducing the stress on the family. Litigation can put children in the middle of parental conflict that may have a lasting emotional impact.
Legal separation mediation is more streamlined and keeps the spouses in control of decision-making. Whereas, the traditional court process is susceptible to crowded dockets and delays that take months.
Mediation empowers you and your spouse to make the decisions for your family. Otherwise, when you go to court, a judge who doesn’t know you makes final decisions that directly impact your family.
Mediation is confidential protecting the privacy of the spouses and family. On the other hand, litigation creates public records that can reveal your finances or family issues to others.
Litigation is adversarial, which, if nothing else, will increase distrust and resentment, which could permanently damage your ability to co-parent. Learn more about divorce mediation vs. litigation.
Our simplified and guided process makes it much easier to file for legal separation without an attorney. We will guide you every step of the way so you can be confident at each stage of the process.
The process begins with a free consultation to help us better understand your situation, explain the mediation process, and outline the next steps in the process of legal separation.
Next, we will assist you in gathering and organizing all of your financial documents. This process will ensure transparency and provide a solid foundation for future decision-making.
We assist you with completing the necessary California Legal Separation Forms FL-100 Petition and provide guidance on filing with the Court and waiver of filing fees.
After your petition has been filed, you must serve your spouse with the petition by proper legal means. We will explain the correct way to serve your spouse
The parties will exchange formal financial disclosures willingly (for example, the FL-140). It is an important step to help everyone negotiate property and debt issues fairly and honestly.
This will be the most important part of our work. We will negotiate all issues, including child custody, child support, property division, etc., until everything is resolved and both parties reach mutual satisfaction.
We will draft the final settlement agreement for your review and advise how to file it with the court to obtain the judge’s approval and issuance of the final judgment.
If you are contemplating a legal separation in California, it is important to choose the right process. The following table compares and contrasts mediation and traditional litigation processes to ensure you make an educated decision.
There are many reasons couples opt for a legal separation in California- religious beliefs, financial advantages such as keeping health insurance, or because they don’t yet meet California’s six-month residency requirement. The good news is that once you are ready to convert your legal separation into a divorce, you can file a simple request with the court.
A divorce legally ends a marriage, while a separation provides a framework for living apart while still married. Mediation is an excellent fit for:
California Litigation leaves records that are accessible to the public, but mediation, on the other hand, keeps the record of separating individuals private.
Court trials can cost over $50,000 in legal and court fees. Fortunately, our mediation process at Families First Mediation provides a cost-effective allowing each spouse $10,000.
Our program is for couples who prioritize a peaceful relationship, especially to make co-parenting much easier. We encourage collaboration instead of conflict, like litigation.
Legal separation mediation also fits well to California high net worth individuals who’ve complicated assets or businesses to safeguard. We create comprehensive arrangements for intricate asset portfolios.
Want a flexible, responsive schedule. We work around your availability and avoid slow and inflexible timelines imposed by the courts. We offer online mediation for busy professionals
Want access to a fair, legal resolution for your family law issues? We customize our divorce and legal separation program as per individual needs and goals. From complex cases to simple separation processes our program assists people from different socio-economic backgrounds.
We help all separating couples; those with children and those without. We protect families and their children from conflict and to set an effective parenting plan. We focus on what is in the best interest of families.
At Families First Mediation, we are a dedicated team of four professionals with over 60 years of combined experience in family law. Our collaborative group includes skilled attorney-mediators, a financial mediator, a case manager, and a divorce paralegal—each committed to providing compassionate and effective divorce mediation services throughout California.
Principal & Founder Attorney-Mediator
Legal separation in California requires filing a legal separation and completing it with a Legal separation judgment. It is similar to a divorce proceeding requiring the same court forms and issues to be resolved except that it does not terminate a marriage.
Spouses may opt for a legal separation instead of a divorce if they don’t meet 6-months residency requirements to divorce or if they’re able to maintain their health insurance by filing for legal separation, for religious reasons, relationship reasons, or other financial considerations.
The cost of mediating a legal separation in California could range from $5,000 to $15,000, total. While it’s significantly lower than litigation costs that can cost $25,000 per person and up.
Please note that there is no inherent cost-saving by separating instead of divorcing. In fact, legal separation can be more expensive if the parties later decide to divorce. Learn more about divorce mediation and divorce costs.
Yes, legally, you can date while you are separated. Consider whether dating may complicate negotiations, and whether it will impact your spousal support.
Yes, you can remain legally separated forever. This status, which finalizes your financial responsibilities and parental obligations, allows you to keep your marriage intact for personal or practical purposes.
Yes, you can be legally separated and still live together. The term “legal separation” does not require “physical separation.” The word “separation” is about the legal obligations the spouses no longer have to each other because they have been “legally separated.”
Legal separation does not require living in a separate room. You can be legally separated and still live together. The term “legal separation” does not require “physical separation.” The word “separation” is about the legal obligations the spouses no longer have to each other because they have been “legally separated.”
Mediation is almost always the preferred first method for legal separation. It is the most cost-effective and least adversarial way to resolve all of the separation issues before initiating any court papers.
The first step to file a legal separation is to file your Petition for Legal Separation (Form FL-100) with your local county court. We strongly recommend that you first prepare this agreement using mediation so that you avoid conflict.
You stay legally married if you only obtain a legal separation and do not later pursue a divorce. This means you cannot remarry. Your separation agreement would be legally binding for child custody, support, and the division of assets. However, your status as a married person would not change.
The length of time it takes to get a legal separation in California depends on the process to obtain the divorce. Most uncontested divorce cases that utilize mediation take 6 months or less to finalize an agreement. If your case is contested and goes through litigation, it could take years to finalize.
