Our Services

This "get to know you meeting" provides you and your spouse with the opportunity to meet the mediator with whom you will be working to see whether you feel comfortable with him or her; to learn more about divorce mediation, how the process works, and how it differs from an adversarial divorce proceeding; and gives you an opportunity to ask any questions you have. Please be assured that this "get to know you meeting" is simply a way for you and your spouse to obtain more information about Divorce Mediation Professionals, and there is no cost or obligation on your part. We do require that the two of you attend this meeting together, since your mediator will be working with both of you throughout the entire process.

Please call Divorce Mediation Professionals to schedule a free consultation for you and your spouse at your convenience, either in the morning, afternoon or evening in one of our three offices.

During the mediation, an impartial mediator assists the two of you in concluding an agreement that addresses all of the issues that should properly be resolved by your incident to your separation and divorce. In order to help you accomplish this, your mediator will provide:

• Information: As many divorcing individuals are unsure of the financial and legal aspects of divorce, your mediator will ensure that you receive information, both verbal and written, so that you have the tools necessary to make informed, intelligent decisions and to understand the implications of those decisions.
• Respectful Environment: The mediation process employed by Divorce Mediation Professionals provides you with an environment which promotes respectful and constructive communication and encourages your active participation.
• Constructive Discussions: Divorce mediation is not "once over lightly".  One of the reason that it takes less time for a couple to conclude an agreement in divorce mediation than it does when they turn to adversarial divorce proceedings, is that there is no wasted time in divorce mediation. Most of the things that divorce lawyers do (draw pleadings, make motions, appear in court to answer the calendar or ask for an adjournment) and most of the time that they expend doing those things, have little or nothing to do with the ultimate outcome. They are just part of the game of legal chess that divorce lawyers make of your divorce.  During your mediation sessions, you address the problems which must be resolved openly, directly and in an organized fashion.

The mediation process concludes in the preparation and execution of a formal, legally binding separation agreement by one of our attorneys which incorporates and accurately reflects the understanding that the two of you have verbally concluded with the help of your mediator.

A typical separation agreement will address:

• Custody and visitation of minor children
• Liabilities (credit card debt, car loans, responsibility for mortgage notes, home equity loans, promissory notes, pension loans, and all other debt)
• Personal property (house contents, vehicles, bank accounts, brokerage accounts, other investment accounts, stocks, stock options, bonds, businesses, and life insurance cash surrender value)
• Retirement benefits, including defined benefit plans (i.e. pensions), defined contribution plans (i.e. 401(k)), and other retirement plans
• Real property (sale, transfer, buyout or continued joint ownership of marital residence, investment properties, time-shares, vacation or other property and related tax implications)
• Child Support
• Spousal support
• College education expenses
• Medical insurance coverage (for children and ex-spouse)
• Life insurance coverage
• Federal and state income taxes

Your separation agreement will provide you with the assurance that all important issues have been addressed and that there is nothing that has been overlooked or left out. Since we proceed on the assumption that a dispute between a couple who has separated and divorced is simply a question their agreement didn't answer, we are concerned with the quality of your agreement - concerned that there is nothing of importance that has been forgotten or that it does not address. In fact, you should be left with a better agreement in divorce mediation than you will be should you to turn to adversarial divorce proceedings. That is because you are free to make a far more complete agreement for yourselves than a court is permitted to make for you. Thus, you will not be left with just half of an agreement - one that only looks to today, but does not make adequate provision for tomorrow - which is so often the case with agreements that are concluded through adversarial divorce proceedings.

Once you have concluded and signed your separation agreement you will be legally separated, but still married. Legal separation means that you will each have the right to live separate and apart and to conduct and comport yourselves in all respects as if you are not married. However, unless you are divorced, you cannot remarry. Thus, upon concluding your agreement, you have a choice. You can remain legally separated or you can proceed to terminate your marriage by getting a divorce. If you both wish to do this, Divorce Mediation Professionals will prepare and process all of the papers through the court system necessary for you to obtain a divorce.

As part of your agreement, one of you may agree to transfer his or her interest in your home (or in some other property) to the other. If that is the case, Divorce Mediation Professionals will prepare and record the deed and other real estate transfer documents necessary to accomplish this.

Commonly, a couple's separation agreement will provide for one of parties to share in the other's retirement benefits (pension, 401(k) plan, etc.). In most cases, this will require a court order, which is referred to as a Qualified Domestic Relations Order, or a “QDRO”. Again, Divorce Mediation Professionals will prepare the order, get it approved by the plan administrator, submit it to the court and, when it is signed by a judge, serve it on the plan administrator who will be required to make the ultimate division.

Many couples, particularly in second marriages, wish to enter into an agreement making provision in the event of the termination of their marriage, either by death or divorce. This may be done either before or during their marriage. Divorce Mediation Professionals will assist the two of them to conclude such an agreement, prepare it and see to its execution.