Brian James, a divorce mediator in Chicago, answers: If the two of you are willing to work together, be honest with and trust each other, communicate, provide the required financial documents, and not “draw your line in the sand”, then mediation can be a very effective process for reaching the agreements necessary to divorce. However, […]
Mediation Issues
What Is My Role As A Client In Mediation?
Brian James, a divorce mediator in Chicago, answers: To actively participate in the entire process from start to finish, to be open to ideas and suggestions that may be different from those you had prior to the mediation process, to avoid “drawing your line in the sand” on a particular issue, to provide full disclosure […]
What Is Mediation? How Does It Work?
Brian James, a divorce mediator in Chicago, answers: Mediation is one of the processes that divorcing people can engage in to assist them in reaching the necessary agreements to divorce. Mediators are impartial third parties who assist divorcing individuals in reaching agreements that make sense for both sides and are good for their children. In […]
Does the lawyer attend mediation or do only the divorcing couple and the mediator attend?
Does the lawyer attend mediation or do only the divorcing couple and the mediator attend? It is preferable to have a lawyer attend mediation, simply so that everyone is on the same page as to what everyone is agreeing upon. When parties attend mediation without an attorney, one party often has a different understanding as […]
Does each spouse have a mediator or is there one mediator for the two of them?
There’s only one mediator. However, I highly recommend that both parties go to mediation with a lawyer. The mediator’s job is to broker a deal between the two parties, but the mediator’s job is not to explain the law to each party or to make sure it’s a fair agreement. That is the job of […]
What are the next steps once an agreement is reached through mediation?
If mediation is used as a divorce process, then each person takes the agreement to his or her attorney to make sure everything is legal and that their respective rights are adequately covered. One would want to go to an attorney whose practice is not 100 percent litigation to prevent a settlement agreement from being […]
Does looking at the financial aspects of a divorce help remove the emotional aspects of the process?
Not really. There are three elements that affect divorcing people. If you ask an attorney, divorce is a legal matter that has a financial and an emotional component. If you ask a mental health professional, they’ll say divorce is an emotional issue that has a legal and a financial component. If you ask a CPA, […]
If the divorce has more complex issues, can you still use a mediator?
Yes. The mediator is different from an arbitrator. The mediator does not make decisions, but helps the couple to make decisions. Oftentimes, the couple has their attorneys present along with any other experts who might be involved. Harriett Fox is a CPA and divorce mediator located in Miami, Florida. She uses her mediation skills to […]
What are the benefits of mediation?
Mediation allows the couple to participate in the decisions. It provides a forum to negotiate, with the help of a neutral mediator, to formulate a decision on splitting assets, a parenting plan, alimony, and child support issues. Harriett Fox is a CPA and divorce mediator located in Miami, Florida. She uses her mediation skills to […]
What is mediation and how does it work?
Mediation comes in two types. One allows the couple to decide if they want to use mediation as an alternative dispute resolution process, or ADR, rather than using the traditional litigation route. In that case, they would choose a mediator to work through issues and develop a settlement agreement between them. The other type is […]
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