You hired a family law mediator and set the first meeting date. Now what? Here are five ways to make sure mediation sessions fulfill their purpose of helping you and your spouse arrive at divorce settlement terms both of you consider fair and equitable. Trying to resolve your divorce with a minimum wrangling and discord? Here’s how to make the divorce mediation process work for you: Read more
In honor of Domestic Violence Awareness Month, we’re taking a look at a common question about divorce mediation:
Is mediation ever appropriate when a couple has experienced domestic violence or abuse?
Some mediators would unequivocally say no. Mediation assumes that parties will keep each other’s best interests in mind and seek solutions that provide maximum benefit to both. Abuse creates a serious power imbalance and implies that an abuser is unwilling or unable to place any importance on the needs and wants of the other party.
This response is not entirely satisfactory, however, because it leaves an abused party with litigation as the only alternative. Is this really better? Read more
Disagreements about child custody and visitation are often the most emotionally challenging aspect of a divorce for parents. Sometimes both parents want primary residential custody, and sometimes one parent wants to share parenting time equally while the other does not. A less common, but often very challenging situation is that one parent wants to drastically limit the other’s visitation time and decision-making authority due to some type of concern regarding the latter’s parenting ability.
When is mediation a good vehicle for attempting resolution of these kinds of issues? Read more
photo credit: goop.com
If you follow celebrity news, you no doubt have heard about the “conscious uncoupling” between Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin. If you are going through an “uncoupling” process yourself, you may be wondering what exactly it means to make it “conscious.” Since you are reading this blog, you may also be wondering how the concept of conscious uncoupling fits into the divorce mediation process. Read more
Negotiating with a soon-to-be-ex can be enormously challenging. You could be facing decisions that will have a long-term impact on many aspects of your life. Add to this the fact that divorcing spouses often share history that includes rough emotional terrain, and the whole idea can start to feel like too much to handle. If you need motivation to persevere, remember that unless you and your spouse can resolve your differences amicably, you will eventually find yourselves in front of a judge—letting a stranger make decisions for you that will not necessarily be any better than the decisions you could reach on your own with a bit of concerted effort. Read more
You’ve hired your mediator and the first appointment is set. The next step? Getting prepared. Your New Jersey family law mediator will request you bring specific financial and personal documents to your first divorce mediation session. Besides gathering this information, you can also take steps on your own to prepare. Here are three tips for how to feel organized and ready for this first meeting with your mediator. Read more
Don't go into your divorce or family law matter defenseless
