Providing Divorce Mediation Services Throughout California
Providing Divorce Mediation Services Throughout California
Divorce does not have to mean a long court fight. In San Rafael, our attorney mediators have helped many Marin County couples reach fair agreements, avoid litigation, and save thousands. Schedule a free consultation to see if mediation is right for you.
If your marriage in San Rafael, California is not working – despite trying relationship or marriage counseling– divorce is the final solution. But it’s not easy, we all know that. Even if your relationship with your spouse has been bad, telling your spouse you want divorce is difficult too, let alone divorcing or uncoupling that follows grieving, sense of loss and guilt.
Additionally, divorce costs are overwhelming in Marin County. Divorce lawyers costs and courts visitation and hearing make a simpler divorce complex. And if you’ve children divorce comes hard on you and your children, shaking the foundations of them and bridging them with emotional disaster.
The best solution for divorce in San Rafael? The one that would make moving forward easier, allow you to put your child first. And help you settle matters outside the court peacefully and without expensive lawyers. Of course, the divorce mediation – with expert mediator Dina Haddad – helps you and your spouse reach a long-lasting settlement agreement on divorce outside the court and without even hiring pricey attorneys.
The research reveals that mediation is a beneficial alternative to litigation for divorcing couples. According to another study published in Pearson and Thoennes (1988), found that mediation participants were more satisfied with the process even though they did not reach an agreement.
Divorce mediation is not recommended for all in San Rafael – especially when one spouse is dominating, abusive and does not want to go through mediation.
Divorce mediation benefits the majority – those seeking anonymity, looking to avoid conflict, and trying to keep things civil and simple with solutions that meet their different needs. Here it’s how seven types of people can benefit from mediation:
Mediation’s collaborative approach provides emotional relief and a less stressful experience.
Mediation is more efficient for handling divorce for those on a tight budget.
Mediation is ideal for people who value confidentiality and want to avoid emotionally charged altercations. Thus mediation keeps their issues private and promotes construction conversation to reach agreement.
Dina provides very specialized mediation – High net-worth divorce mediation – allowing couples with large and complex assets better allocate and divide their properties. Our mediators provide valuable solutions considering tax implications, changes in job, and equity pay like RSUs, PSUs, and other forms of compensation. Couples often make divorce mistakes when it comes to finances and assets. Read the blog here on this.
Older couples looking for straightforward, workable arrangements that keep in mind the history of their relationship, life-long accumulation of assets, and want to keep their retirement secure.
Mediation encourages collaboration, resulting in both parents creating plans for their children, both during and after the divorce.
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After finalizing an expert private mediator in San Rafael for virtual or in-person divorce mediation, the next step is to meet the mediator and outline your goals, concerns about the system, and the divorce mediation plan.
The information gathering stage in mediation allows both parties to gather information such as financial statements, property titles, and other relevant documents, which aids in the negotiation process.
The mediator in the negotiation session facilitates discussions and negotiations to settle every issue in divorce. This involves cooperation and compromises until both reach a settlement aligning each spouse’s interests.
After mediation, your mediator drafts the Marital Settlement Agreement (MSA) covering custody, support, and property division. Once you approve, it’s filed with the Marin County Court in San Rafael. After the judge’s approval, your divorce is legally finalized—quickly and without court battles.
Principal & Founder Attorney-Mediator
Dina Haddad is the founder and principal of Families First Mediation, one of California’s top-rated mediation services.
As an attorney-mediator based in California, Dina has helped countless couples resolve issues related to divorce, legal separation, child custody, spousal support, and prenuptial and postnuptial agreements—amicably and effectively.
She earned her post-doctorate law degree in mediation from the renowned Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution.
Dina has practiced family law at some of the most respected firms in both Southern and Northern California. She brings a strong legal background together with a thoughtful, educational approach to mediation—ensuring both parties feel informed, heard, and empowered to reach lasting agreements.
She has served as Judge Pro Tempore for Personal Property Arbitration in Santa Clara County and is a family law mediator with the Agency for Dispute Resolution (ADR), a premier provider of private dispute resolution services.
Explore client stories and reflections on how we’ve made divorce in California simple and stress-free through our mediation process.
Divorce mediation in San Rafael, CA is a non-adversarial process to resolve family law disputes outside the court. In this ADR, mediator helps couples reach amicable resolutions on issues such as asset and debt division, child custody, spousal support and complex assets division.
Unlike divorce lawyers, who represent one party, a divorce mediator is more of a neutral party to both spouses and assists them in coming up with solutions that cater to each party’s interests.
How long the divorce process goes in San Rafael, CA depends upon how you divorce or simply which option you choose out of these:
The grounds for divorce in Marin County, CA means that the court must have reasons to grant a divorce. In a no-fault state California (in which spouses don’t require the proof of marital conduct) there are two grounds of divorce:
Irreconcilable Differences: It means marriage has deteriorated to a point where there’s no realistic possibility of the couple getting back together.
Incurable Insanity: It requires a petitioner to prove, through medical reports, that their spouse was incurably insane during the marriage.
The cost of divorce in San Rafael starts from $2500 for simple mediation and goes to $7500 for complex mediation. It’s far more cost-effective than traditional divorce litigation that costs $1700 for simple cases.
Divorce mediation in Marin County, CA takes around 3-6 months. But you know that every case is different. Some couples resolve issues 1-2 sessions while some take more time because their cases are complex, parties are unprepared and they or mediators may be unavailable. However, despite these complex scenarios, mediation takes far less time than litigious divorce.
Dina Haddad, Esq., Sam Amato, Esq., and Elizabeth Stephens are the best divorce mediators not only in San Rafael but California wide. They have combined family law and financial experience of 60+ years. They provide a range of legal family services custody, child support, and spousal support mediation to high net worth divorce mediation and marital agreements mediation.
No problem. If mediation in San Rafael or anywhere does not lead to settlement, you can start the second round after taking some time. As this would let you and your spouse process high emotions. Even you also start the mediation with a new mediator because if you litigation it would be taxing emotionally and monetarily.
Because divorce mediation is cheap, faster, and empowers the parties involved in the process, allowing them to make decisions for themselves and their family. Additionally, mediated settlement agreements have more follow through and higher compliance over litigated divorce. Litigated divorces are not only expensive but also unhealthy emotionally.
Yes, San Rafael allows you to get the best advantages of custody mediation by resolving your disputes without a court and lawyers. Compared to litigated and contentious custody battles, mediation for child custody reduces conflicts and fosters healthy-coparenting.
