Providing Divorce Mediation Services Throughout California
Santa Cruz Divorce Mediation Services, Family Law, Legal Separation, or Custody Mediation
Divorce mediation is an alternative dispute resolution method for couples seeking fair, effective, and inexpensive divorce compared to divorce litigation in Santa Cruz. Mediation comes with reduced emotional trauma than a traditional court divorce. Mediated divorce is a collaborative process, which creates better co-parenting opportunities for spouses after divorce.
Unlike court proceedings, mediation is a confidential process. Mediators who are third-party professionals help couples reach a fair outcome by facilitating communication. They resolve all issues about divorce, including child custody, child and spousal support, future support modifications, and debts and property division.
If you are considering mediation, consider FamiliesFirstMediation mediators, who have 20 years of experience in Santa Cruz divorce mediation and family law. Families First Mediation mediators strive to put you in control of your divorce. They believe a successful mediated divorce results in a quality, long-lasting agreement. They offer a free initial consultation, which they use to get to know you and your concerns and provide you with a plan for your divorce success.
This blog discusses mediation and the advantages and disadvantages of mediation in Santa Cruz.
The following benefits show how mediation is advantageous to spouses in Santa Cruz.
Mediation in Santa Cruz is more inexpensive than other divorcing options. It costs around $3,500 to $15,000 plus, including the court’s filing fee and the mediator’s all-session fee. Both spouses can split up this mediator’s fee and pay their share. While In traditional court divorces, the entire cost of litigated divorce may range from $30,000 to $100,000 per party. Each party hires their attorney and pays separately, adding more costs to the divorce process.
Mediated divorces are time-friendly, and you can get the final judgment in just months, with usually 4-6 mediation sessions. However, litigated divorces take at least a year for more straightforward cases and more than two years for complex cases
In mediation, both spouses make decisions regarding their marriage. The mediator neither imposes a decision nor expresses an opinion regarding the process; her role is to facilitate communication.
However, in traditional divorce, a judge decides for you, your children, and assets. The judge makes the decision (while keeping you less familiar with what is going to happen). The courts have big caseloads, and they may not understand your circumstances the way you can for yourself (in mediation)
You set your pace, time, and schedule in mediation, making it more convenient and casual, unlike court battles in which you get the hearing dates as per the (busy) court’s schedule.
Divorce mediation offers both parties more customized solutions tailored to their goals and specific family needs.
Mediation leads to better post-divorce relations between the spouses as they reach a marital settlement agreement through a collaborative approach. However, in a contested divorce case, you spend years battling in the courthouse, which has less follow-through and may require divorce judgment modification in the future. Therefore, you are less likely to be on terms with your spouse in a traditional divorce, and smooth co-parenting becomes the dream.
Mediation offers more privacy and confidentiality than court-driven divorces. No one sits behind and records your mediation sessions. A mediator doesn’t disclose information to anyone. This feature has many celebrity couples and public profiles choosing to mediate their matters to keep them private. . Also, many laws in California protect the confidentiality of (private) mediation.
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.
The following benefits show how mediation is advantageous to spouses in Santa Cruz.
Mediation is based upon open dialogue and collaboration between couples. However, if one spouse in the mediation tries to dominate over the other, it will disrupt the level playing field and fairness of the entire process. In such a scenario, where one partner denies cooperation, consider a traditional court case. The court may have to step in and may the decisions on your matter.
Mediation may not be suitable for highly contested divorces. Likewise, cases involving domestic violence and abuse may limit mediation to work because the victim spouse may not freely express concerns due to threats or coercion of the other spouse.
Likely, cases of complex finances (hidden assets, complex business ownership, etc.) may not be suitable for mediation if one spouse is not disclosing the right information.
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:
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.
The differences between mediation and lawyer-driven divorce are as follows:
The cost of mediation in Santa Cruz depends upon the mediator’s billing structures and other factors (case complexities, mediator’s experience, etc.). Some mediators have flat fee packages, while others use hourly or hybrid models. In California, each party has a court filing fee of $435. The mediation expenses may range from a few thousand dollars to $15,000 plus. Let’s have a glimpse of the fees of mediators:
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.